Who sets the thermometer?

Who sets the thermometer?

Your company culture might encourage people to flex their schedules and stay late in the evening or come in on weekends during crunch periods. Can your building accommodate you? Does it accommodate the hard workers down the hall at your expense?  The big question is who controls the thermometer.

If a building has an automatic dial down on the furnace at 5 p.m. and dial up at 8 a.m., it might interfere with your operation. Some buildings might charge you a heat/cooling stipend of $50 to $100 an hour when your team is at variance with other tenants. Others might leave the heat or air conditioning unit at the same place 24/7 which spreads the penalty around.

It is good to visit a building on a really cold or really hot day to see how well the HVAC system is distributed around the available space. You might find one sector is freezing while another is roasting. It is easier to make changes or repairs at the start of a lease. If the problem persists, employees could bring space heaters to stay warm, which becomes a fire hazard.

Control of the thermometer is just one item, but it represents a comfort item that is near and dear to employees, the people you most need to keep safe and comfortable.

About the Author

Lynn Drake’s status is well known in the industry: She’s the commercial realtor focused on maintaining “true north” for her corporate clients. It’s a reputation built on 35 years of commercial real estate experience. Lynn became a commercial realtor in 2001 after 15 years in corporate real estate. Thus far in her career, Lynn has successfully completed over 1,500 real estate transactions ranging from small business tenant leases to the sale and purchase of industrial complexes.