Sustainable Facilities Tool

Comfort

Comfortable workers are more likely to be productive and engaged with their work than those who struggle to work in spaces that create barriers and stresses. With ever increasing needs to be mindful of the environment when designing spaces, GSA is developing practices that support both sustainability and worker comfort.

Achieving Both Comfort And Sustainability: Key Practices

1. Enable occupant control of ambient conditions. One of the best ways to achieve comfort, health, and energy savings is to enable occupants to adjust ambient conditions in their workspace (e.g., the light levels, ventilation, and temperatures).
2. Provide adjustable furnishings and technologies. People come in all sizes, heights, and abilities. Thus their workspace furnishings - from the desk chair to the table height - should be easily adjustable to fit all sizes and abilities.
3. Educate occupants. When new controls and furnishings are provided, all occupants should be trained in their proper use. Training is often left to the individual occupant who may not use the controls in the proper way.
4. Provide quick response to comfort concerns. Research shows that occupants are more satisfied with conditions overall if their concerns are addressed quickly by facilities personnel.
5. Provide feedback to occupants on energy use. The energy reduction goals for federal office buildings may sometimes conflict with comfort. Occupants should be informed of how much energy the building is consuming so that they can adjust their behaviors to help achieve energy goals.

Benefits:

Social:

• Improved employee comfort and satisfaction
• Improved employee health
• Improved work performance

Economic:

• Reduced costs of muscular-skeletal injuries
• Reduced costs of illnesses related to interior quality

Environmental:

• Reduced energy consumption

Case Study Results

Six completed federal workplace projects show that comfort can increase dramatically when the design includes improvements in lighting, air quality, ergonomics and thermal conditions.

Although the designs differed in implementation details, each involved improvements in electric lighting, better access to daylight, materials selected to improve air quality, adjustable task light, and ergonomic furnishings.

Results

Factor	Percentage Improvement
Air Quality	33%
Cleanliness	33%
Furniture Adjustability	33%
Furniture Comfort	30%
Daylight	23%
Views	23%
Temperatures	18%
Amount of Light	17%
Visual Comfort	17%
Noise Levels	3%

Project Checklist

• Ergonomic chair is provided for all regularly occupied workstations
• Work tables, desks and files can be easily moved by occupants to a preferred arrangement within workstations
• Adjustable, moveable task lamps with compact fluorescent lamps are provided in all workstations. Under bin light is less useful.
• The computer screen and keyboard are adjustable and can be moved within the workstation
• Individual workstations provide control over ventilation with operable windows, underfloor air distribution vents, or operable ceiling vents
• Windows have adjustable blinds or other sun control devices
• Meeting spaces for 6 or more people have ventilation and temperature controls in the space
• Conference rooms have adjustable light to enable some light to remain on while a projector is in use
• Printers and copiers are centralized and separately ventilated to reduce air quality problems.
• Paper management (such as central filing; increased electronic storage) reduces dust and particulates
• Occupant comfort is regularly assessed through surveys or other means and occupants receive feedback from the survey results
• Facility personnel respond promptly to comfort complaints
• Occupants are made aware of the energy and sustainability goals of their facilities
• Occupants receive feedback about the on going energy performance of the building through the use of a dashboard or other display methods

Source(s):

• "The New Federal Workplace", GSA Public Buildings Service, June 2009, available at http://www.gsa.gov/graphics/pbs/GSA_NEWWORKPLACE.pdf
• "The GSA Hallmarks of the Productive Workplace", U.S. General Services Administration, Rev. 01/06, 1999, available at http://www.gsa.gov/graphics/ogp/HallmarksoftheProductiveWorkplaceMar07.doc

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