Stuffy offices
Why is it that office buildings are so badly designed for ventilation? My officeâin common with many, I’m sureâhas been like a sauna for the past few days, with none of the benefits of being able to sit around semi-naked doing nothing. It’s cold in winter, boiling and airless in summer, and even when it’s bright and sunny outside, we need to have the lights on. Quite apart from the discomfort, it seems a terrible waste of resources. Our building is by no means unusual in this; most of the office buildings I’ve been in are stuffy and hot, or stuffy and cold if they have air conditioning.
Surely it doesn’t have to be like this? I know that there are awkward limitations caused by trying to pack a lot of different rooms into a large building, but it must be possible to get a reasonable airflow through the rooms, and not have others which act like giant greenhouses. Our flat is remarkably cool in summer, even on the hottest day, and yet is quite cosy and warm in winter. It’s just a pity that I have to spend so much of my life in the officeâespecially in the summer.
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i hear ya! it's so depressing being able to catch a tiny glimpse of a bright sunny day outside one's small office window, whilst having to work away under the glare of fluorescent lights all day long.
i've taken to grabbing every spare moment when i don't need to sit at my pc -- when i'm reading a textbook or paper of some sort -- and dashing outside to sit on the steps in the sun.
trouble is, there's lots of those semi-naked people you mentioned wandering around, so my work rate suffers just as much as in the stuffy office.
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The self-ordained controller of the air conditioning in my office has just agreed to lower the setting from 22 degrees Celsius (apparently thatâs the âwinterâ setting), and yet the thermometer never travels far from 24!!
He complains that we keep opening the windows - but thatâs something to do with the air conditioning, apart from being set at 22, being as effective as a fart in a thunderstorm. Roll on winter - at least you can put a jumper on when itâs coldâ¦
by Dr Rock @ 19/06/2003 7:06 am • Permalink •
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The main reason is because the UK was never designed to expect warm days - and there aren't enough of them to justify proper air-con in most places.
Some of the more modern offices are OK, but even then, the huge majority of companies don't see why they should invest in air-con for the two or three weeks when it's really needed.
by Lyle @ 19/06/2003 10:06 am • Permalink •
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Knew I'd written some more about it - and particularly about Sick Building Syndrome - http://www.destruction-for-dummies.co.uk/rants/work/sick_buildings.html
Enjoy.
by Lyle @ 19/06/2003 10:06 am • Permalink •
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As I suspected--it's a very common problem.
Great article, Lyle! I edited your comment as the URL didn't translate (I have HTML switched off in comments). It's a shame that more developers don't take advantage of developments in low energy building techniques. These flats at BedZED ( http://www.zedfactory.com/bedzed/bedzed.html ) use passive solar gain for heating, have wind-driven ventilation, where the heat is recoverd before the air is expelled, and--even though the development is fairly high density--all the flats have gardens and plenty of light. You get a much nicer living/working environment, and consume fewer resources too.
by bsag @ 19/06/2003 8:06 pm • Permalink •
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The BedZED stuff sounds really good - I love the idea of being ecologically sound in heat conservation/recycling as well as in general green-ness and pleasant working environment.
Unfortunately, these developments are still in the minority, compared to the "shove 'em in a box and no-one will care/notice" attitude that still seems to dominate. A perfect case in point is that bloody horrible sandstone block building that Oxford's now got in front of the rail station, and also the office buildings out towards Cowley - forgotten the name of the "park", but it's where the chuffing big Royal Mail sorting office got built.
Thanks for sorting the links - being a twat, I didn't notice the address hadn't translated. Grin
by Lyle @ 20/06/2003 9:06 am • Permalink •
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