Air conditioning in office buildings may be biased against women, a new study reveals. This is due to standards developed during the 1960s, when most workers in offices were males, researchers concluded.
Standards for air conditioning, as well as heating, in office environments were based on the resting metabolic rate of males. This number measures how much energy is used by the body while a person is not undergoing any kind of physical exertion, and this number is different for men, compared with women. The average office worker in these studies was a 40-year-old male, weighing 154 pounds. Employees who differ significantly from this model can be uncomfortable as they work.
Researchers examined 16 women as they worked in a controlled environment, while wearing light clothing. Oxygen consumption, as well as the production of carbon dioxide, was measured as the women went about their professional duties. Investigators carefully tracked air and skin temperature, as well as the humidity within the environment.
The study revealed that the metabolic rate of women is significantly lower than the ideal male studied while developing standards six decades before our own time. This is likely due, in part, to the fact that women possess a smaller average body size than men. Females also have a higher percentage of fat cells than men. These produce less heat than normal cells, further driving down body temperatures in female workers.
Office managers could make their female co-workers more comfortable, and save money on heating and cooling costs, simply by adjusting their thermostats, researchers reported.
"The current metabolic standards should be adjusted by including the actual [metabolic] values for females to reduce gender-discriminating bias in thermal comfort predictions," researchers wrote in an article announcing their findings.
Previous studies have shown that women, on average, prefer indoor temperatures around 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit higher than males. Ideally, building managers would cater climate to their particular population of workers. However, the means of determining those conditions remains elusive.
Climate control in office buildings is based on the goal of reducing the amount of energy bodies will have to expend on maintaining a normal core body temperature.
On a personal level, the practice alleviates the discomfort of shivering and sweating. But, regulating environmental conditions in office environments also helps improve productivity.
A Cornell University study dating to 2004 showed workers made fewer mistakes when they were at a comfortable temperature, compared with being in a chilly environment. Raising air temperatures from 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit increased productivity while typing 150 percent, while errors fell 44 percent.
Analysis of how outdated standards could be keeping women uncomfortable and reducing productivity was profiled in the journal Nature Climate Change.
Photo: Kheel Center | Flickr
