Energy Savings in the Work Environment

Image via Abodo.

The question of achieving comfort without breaking the bank is a pertinent one in a world where many people travel to a workplace everyday where they do not have direct control over their environment.

How to improve the indoor environment and achieve energy savings - without reducing indoor air quality

Traditionally, buildings have been set to default to one "comfortable" temperature. This has the unfortunate problem of 1) not being comfortable for every individual, as there is considerable variation from person to person and 2) not always being the most efficient way of utilizing facility resources. A lot of research has been going on to come up with a more optimal solution to this problem. One possible solution is the Personal Comfort System (PCS), which relies on a network of strategically positioned sensors to adjust temperature for every user. The sensors have the advantage of not only changing the temperature, and thus immediate user comfort, but they can also sense when a space is not being used, thus enabling better energy savings and limited wastefulness. While solutions like these are promising, slow industry innovation and overall legacy problems with existing HVAC systems can slow down the onset of new technologies that can optimize both comfort and energy saving.

Furthermore, the changes need to be thoughtfully implemented. Many previous approaches to making building more efficient have degraded indoor air quality, because they solely focused on changing building code requirements rather than implementing new solutions and technologies. Building professionals need to pay particularly close attention to building practices an minimize moisture, protect indoor environments from outdoor, and have adequate ventilation and air filter systems. 

As these practices become more entrenched in the construction sphere, and new technologies targeting user comfort become more prevalent, affordable and mainstream, the number of buildings that are truly energy efficient is likely to increase.