How a Cold and Drafty Michigan Office is Costing You Money in 2020

It’s common knowledge that employee productivity is one of the top metrics for the success of a business. But productivity doesn’t happen in a vacuum — there a large number of factors that influence just how well your workers can actually do their jobs, some of them possibly out of your control. The weather, the employees’ home situation, and even the society you live in can all have an effect on your employees’ ability to function.

Given all this, it makes sense that you should focus on the factors that you can actually control. While many business owners do make an effort, perhaps their approach isn’t complete — otherwise, we would be seeing many more successful businesses. Like many of these business owners, you are probably trying to find the barriers to productivity, and you may have come across the findings from IFMA about the top complaints from office workers about issues that impact their ability to get work done. Being too hot or too cold rank as the top 2 problems. If you work in an office (especially if you are in charge of facilities), this is probably not a surprise. However, you may be wondering, what exactly is the relationship between temperature and productivity in the workplace? And what is the ideal temperature for an office?

Productivity suffers significantly when workers are too hot or too cold because they are distracted and make more mistakes. Studies find the highest productivity levels with temperatures at 71.6 degrees F. You could be paying 10 percent more in labor expenses when the office temperature is uncomfortable, according to a Cornell University study.

The Cornell study mentioned earlier suggested (in 2004) that companies can save $2 per hour per worker by keeping temperatures comfortable. That savings is probably even higher today. How much would that add up to for your company? An improvement in indoor air quality can have a positive effect on work performance and productivity, with gains of 6 to 9 percent.

However, productivity isn’t the only way that your business could be losing out. An overworked HVAC that doesn’t have sufficient cooling power to maintain your workplace temperature will draw more energy than a properly-sized and powered system — and the right one will keep your workers comfortable, to boot. On the other hand, while a good HVAC system can do this, it’s not going to be able to do it if it isn’t properly maintained. Even the strongest air conditioner can’t cool effectively if the condenser coils are blocked or dirty, resulting in higher costs and lower efficiency.

For these kinds of problems, preventative maintenance is your frontline solution. A reputable HVAC company will be able to diagnose all of these issues, sometimes before they even happen. Once the problems arise, they’re also usually your only recourse — so having a good, reliable HVAC company on your go-to list of numbers to call is a smart idea.

A properly set up HVAC system could be your key to a more productive, happier workplace. We at Level One HVAC are experts in both installing and maintaining your HVAC systems. We’re ready to respond to all your commercial HVAC system needs. Give us a call at (248) 486-6500 if you’d like to know more. If you don’t have time to call, you can fill in our online contact form and someone from our staff will be in touch with you shortly.

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