Guaranteeing employee wellbeing... and productivity

Background

The Facility Management company we were working with is a Luxembourg-based company that handles multiple office buildings in the Grande Region for clients in the banking sector.

The company manages more than 20,000 m² of office buildings and offers a complete service to their clients.

Challenge

The Facility Management company received some complaints from one of its clients. Employees were complaining about the temperature in their offices. They insisted that these uncomfortable temperatures influenced their ability to concentrate and wellbeing at work.

Leading research also indicates employees perform 6% poorer when the office is overheated and 4% poorer when the office is cold.[*]

Process

In collaboration with the Facility Management company, we created a survey for the employees to gather global feedback on their working conditions. Only 40% of them were satisfied with their working conditions and affirmed they felt comfortable at work. Of the 60% of those who were dissatisfied with their working condition, the most common complaint concerned inadequate thermal conditions.

Sensilla installed several sensors in the offices to monitor their indoor air quality and temperature conditions, in real-time, to understand the thermal issues.

In parallel, our Indoor Air Quality Specialists collected employees’ feedback during the audit phase. They also observed the outdoor air quality conditions, including temperature and relative humidity, to compare the data. We should find a quick solution to resolve the complaints and ensure tenants’ health, wellbeing, and comfort at work.

Results

With our solution, we correlated the outdoor conditions and real-time temperature measurements and compared this against the employees’ feedback.

With this information, we discovered that the HVAC system, part of an older building, had not been well-adjusted in some time and was running at maximum capacity at all times from when it was switched on in the mornings to when it was switched off in the evening.

This led to both an exchange of air which was too rapid for purpose, leading to temperatures that were too cold during the mornings and during the winter months. This also was leading to significant energy waste as the central heating system attempted to compensate for this.

To solve the problem, we worked hand to hand with the HVAC experts to optimize the settings, and we’ll keep on monitoring indoor and outdoor air quality.

6 months after the beginning of the project, the company did a follow-up survey to collect employees’ feedback : 70% now felt satisfied with their working environment.

Besides guaranteeing employee wellbeing and productivity, we also helped the company improve its energy efficiency by 12% and reduce costs.

Sources : [*]Seppanen O, Fisk WJ, Faulkner D. Control of Temperature for Health and Productivity in Offices. 2004
More information : https://sensilla.tech/how_sensilla’s_technology_helps_facility_management_companies_to_improve_wellbeing_at_work