Fresh air increases satisfaction in the home office
The COVID-19 pandemic has established working from home. But how do employees feel about working in their own four walls? A study shows that a certain factor plays a crucial role.
Those who ventilate their home office more often are more productive and less likely to suffer from burnout. Better air quality also contributes to a positive attitude towards working from home. This is the result of a survey of around 1,000 Dutch employees in November 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The respondents found the ambient conditions in the home office better, but preferred the technical equipment of their office workstation. A group of researchers from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, led by Martijn Stroom, published the results of the study in the journal "PLoS One".
Survey on temperature, noise, WLAN
Many previous studies have come to different conclusions regarding the productivity and satisfaction of employees working from home. Stroom and colleagues used the data collected during the pandemic to find factors that influence the attitude of employees towards working from home.
The respondents were asked to evaluate which aspects related to their work at home or in the office were better. This included indoor environmental conditions, such as temperature, air quality, lighting, and noise. They were also asked about the equipment, such as desk, chair, screen, computer hardware, and WLAN.
Environment is better at home
While the study participants rated all environmental conditions on average better in the home office than in the office, it was the opposite for equipment. For example, temperature was rated on average 5.13 on a seven-point scale at home, compared to 4.59 in the office.
Women rated their productivity at home higher than men on average. And the larger the household someone lived in, the higher they rated their own productivity at home on average. However, overall, respondents rated their productivity in the office higher (7.11 on a ten-point scale) than at home (6.84).
Focus on ventilation
The researchers paid particular attention to the relationship between ventilation and other aspects of the home office. It has long been known that stale air can lead to fatigue and concentration problems. Through statistical analysis, the researchers found that as the supply of fresh air increased (from zero to 100 percent), so did satisfaction with the environmental conditions and equipment.
This indirectly increased the estimated productivity (0.4 points on a ten-point scale) and the willingness to continue working from home (1.2 points). At the same time, the longer the ventilation lasted, the lower the tendency to burnout (0.4 points on a seven-point scale). However, the researchers emphasize that the data is based on estimates from the respondents.
"We find that ventilation of the home office is a key underlying factor in predicting overall satisfaction and is indirectly associated with increased productivity, increased willingness to work from home, and lower burnout risk," the study authors conclude regarding ventilation.
How much ventilation is enough? When air is stagnant, pollutants can accumulate. These include exhaled carbon dioxide (CO2) and emissions from furniture and building materials. Regarding carbon dioxide, experts consider 1000 ppm (parts per million) in indoor air to be acceptable.
To prevent exceeding this level, the air in the room should be completely exchanged several times a day, through burst ventilation or cross-ventilation. How often this is necessary depends on how many people are inside and how airtight the house is. CO2 meters, also known as "CO2 traffic lights," display the concentration of the gas, along with room temperature and relative humidity.
The findings suggest that improving ventilation in the home office can significantly boost productivity and reduce the risk of burnout. The study revealsthat a daily exchange of stale air can help prevent the accumulation of pollutants like CO2, which can lead to fatigue and concentration issues.
