PostedJuly 20, 2022, 9:27 PM
Temperature at workScience argues for everyone to have their own air conditioning in the open space
Scientists are working on ways to modulate the temperature and adapt it to everyone’s individual feelings.
Soon the controversies over the level of air conditioning or heating in shared spaces will be over.
20min / Taddeo Cerletti
Anyone who works in an open space will have been able to experience this: the employee who puts on her jacket because “what a cramine with this air conditioning” while at the same time her colleague next door is still on the verge of sweating with sweaty, sticky forearms in the office. The differences in how temperatures feel are known, but an EPFL experiment, the results of which have just been published, brings new scientific knowledge.
Age, sex, metabolism: these factors influence the perception of hot and cold, it is well known. But the EPFL study shows that this does not explain everything. Six people participated for three months in a lab in Friborg in experiments (read below). “Significant inter-individual differences between the subjects have been demonstrated, in particular between two men of equal build during identical activities”, note the researchers Dolaana Khovalyg and Yann Ravussin.
Study the average worker
However, in open spaces, it’s the same price for everyone. “Today’s air conditioning systems are focused on space, not people. With an average temperature of 21 degrees, some are hot, others cold. Our research aims to optimize the comfort of everyone, without distinction”, notes Dolaana Khovalyg, quoted in the EPFL press release.
The data collected from study participants “open up new perspectives: it is now possible to adapt ventilation or heating locally in real time”. To do this, buildings will have to be more “smart” and furniture, such as heated or cooling chairs, will have to be democratized. “A concrete application of this new technology might arrive within ten years”, says the researcher. It would also make it possible to save energy, something that is not trivial these days.
