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Office temperature troubles: New app tackles top worker complaint

Katy B. Olson | June 17, 2014

Office temperature control: It sounds simple, but, as workers in frigid offices around the country can testify, it isn’t. More often than not, workers bundle up in the summer thanks to HVAC systems that waste energy and over-cool office occupants. As FastCo reports, a new app called Comfy is adjusting that imbalance. Comfy is an app that “provides instant streams of warm or cool air to people while also using machine learning in the background to reduce energy use.”

Comfy “can be installed quickly, connecting to an existing building’s hardware and software, providing users with a simple web and mobile interface,” according to the company’s website. Just alert the app if you’re feeling too hot or too cool, and it will direct a blast of air towards your space in the office. The system is smart, too; it will automatically adjust according to the needs of an area of office mates over time.

Many workers complain about the office temperature. From zeevveez.

It’s a simple concept: Comfy “plugs into” the office building using the existing Building Management System’s digital tools. Comfy app users identify their location, and click on “Warm My Space” or “Cool My Space.” Cool or warm air is then directed, within seconds, to the app user’s work area, conference area or other office locale.

As Lindsay Baker, vice president of research for Building Robotics, which created the app, explains to FastCo, “‘I’m too hot’ and ‘I’m too cold’ are the No. 1 and No. 2 complaints that people have about office space. It’s just one of those funny things. For all of the emphasis on productivity, it’s an enormously important part of keeping people comfortable at work.”

Baker has heard a number of office temperature-related war stories. “[Workers] tell us they give people perks like snacks, and shuttle people back and forth, and then they walk through the office and see people huddled over their desk in fingerless gloves, wearing a blanket,” Baker told FastCo.

The app has potential environmental benefits, too. It would reduce or eliminate unnecessary use of heat or air conditioning in unused spaces. It also would enhance productivity. “Facilities management needs software that helps resolve the neverending balance between energy management and occupant comfort,” explains the company’s site. “Comfy reduces the burden of hot and cold calls, while providing a way for facilities teams to manage temperature requests in an efficient and centralized way.”

The app’s projected energy savings is 15-20 percent, largely because the system learns quickly which building areas aren’t occupied or are underused. Explains Baker, 40-50 percent of office areas are unoccupied at a given time. “Maybe someone’s in a meeting and their office is empty, or a conference room isn’t being used, or a lobby space is empty. By conditioning those spaces less, we’re saving an enormous amount of energy.”

The company hopes to add extra tools as smartphone location services are improved over the next year. What’s to come? “You walk into an office building and your desk starts to cool down for you, your light adjusts to the level that you want it,” explains Baker. “All of that can start to happen because our phones help us keep a record of what we like.”