Facilities Managers Still Tackle the Temperature Wars

IFMA’s new survey reveals the ongoing importance of the thermal comfort of workers in the workplace. For many years, the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) has conducted surveys of its facility management members to find out the top office complaints among employees. Common grievances offered include high noise levels, limited space and unusual odors. However, complaints of the temperature being too hot or too cold always top the list, often alternating from year to year. Research has shown that improvement to thermal comfort issues often results in higher tenant satisfaction scores, so building owners and operators take these concerns seriously.

Facility managers go to great lengths to keep facilities comfortable for workers, as this comfort is directly tied to worker productivity. IFMA’s HVAC research survey, conducted in July, has also uncovered the trend that many facility managers have adjusted the thermostat to higher settings in the summer and lower settings in the winter to reduce energy cost and consumption.

The purpose of this study is to identify when most thermal complaints occur, the nature of the complaints, and what building actions and improvements are made to make workers comfortable and able to concentrate on their jobs.

The survey was drafted with the assistance of several HVAC subject matter experts. Once the questions were developed, the survey was sent to a sample of 3,357 IFMA members located in the United States and Canada. The survey was fielded June 2-4, 2009. A total of 452 responses were received by July 9, 2009. After subtracting the number of returned e-mails, the IFMA research department calculated a response rate of 15 percent.

The 15-questions and their responses, see Question 5 and its answer below, are graphed with pie charts and bar charts, and can be accessed at: www.ifma.org

Do you relax the company dress code in the summer to improve the comfort of occupants? Sixty four percent of respondents working at educational institutions reported the ability to relax dress code policy in the summer months.