Freezing at the Office in Summer? Study Supports 76 Degree Temperature for Best Productivity
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Cold offices are the bane of sleeveless employees and the subject of studies by a Cornell professor.
Alan Hedge, who directs the Human Factors and Ergonomics teaching program at Cornell University, is an expert in thermal comfort, the Washington Post reports. Studies by Hedge and his colleagues have found that people’s views of cold differ widely, but workers generally tend to be more productive at an average temperature of 76 degrees.
Too much heat can also be a productivity issue, the story observes. Before the advent of office air conditioning, the federal government used a mathematical formula based on heat and humidity to decide when its workers should be sent home. During a weeklong heat wave in 1953, more than 26,000 federal workers were sent home.
The Post talked to cold office workers in Washington, D.C., for their coping strategies. Employees don fingerless gloves, sweaters and Snuggies. “The average temperature in a Washington office is hypothermic tundra,” the story says. “It is possible to need more outerwear for a D.C. summer than it is for a D.C. winter, especially if you walk to work and employ the ‘changing of the cardigan’ approach, once you have wiped the sweat-ice from the nape of your neck.”
