Investigating the productivity of office workers to quantify the effectiveness of climate change adaptation measures

Copyright © 2013 Elsevier. NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Building and Environment . Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Building and Environment Vol. 69 (2013), DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2013.07.010The impacts of climate change pose many threats to our current way of life. However, the current mitigation agenda has not yet produced the carbon emission reductions needed implying that some level of adaptation will be required. For buildings this is likely to mean either drastic changes to architecture, occupant behaviour or the increased use of artificial cooling to maintain thermal comfort in the future. The capital cost of sustainable buildings is often perceived to be higher than for conventional buildings and there is little incentive to employ sustainable building adaptations over air-conditioning type solutions, making future reductions in carbon emissions unlikely. In this paper we investigate contributing factors to worker productivity in an attempt to justify the perceived cost of sustainable adaptations. Then as a proof of concept we estimate the potential savings that could be achieved by applying two simple adaptations to an office building to produce a more comfortable environment. It is hoped that this consideration of loss of productivity and its causes will aid not only in the choice of useful adaptation decisions, but also a consideration of payback periods will help persuade building commissioners of their value and overcome the perceptions about sustainable buildings

COSNET-a coherent optical subscriber network

A complete coherent multichannel system, designed for application in the local loop, is presented. The concept of a uni- and bidirectional system and its technical realization in a laboratory demonstrator are described. The network control, including frequency management of the bidirectional channels, and network security are discussed. Attention is paid to the scenario for evolution from a narrowband to a complete broadband system. All aspects are integrated in a demonstrator, which is capable of supporting a large number of narrowband and broadband distributive and communicative services. Novel technical solutions for frequency management, data induced polarization switching (DIPS), high-speed encryption, and network signaling are presented

Effect of thermal comfort on occupant productivity in office buildings : response surface analysis

Thermal environment is one of the main factors that influence occupants' comfort and their productivity in office buildings. There is ample research that outlines this relationship between thermal comfort and occupant productivity. However, there is a lack of literature that presents mathematical relationship between them. This paper presents a research experimental study that investigates effects of indoor environmental quality factors on thermal comfort and occupant productivity. This study was conducted by collecting indoor environmental quality parameters using sensors and online survey for twelve months. Data analysis was done using Response Surface Analysis to outline any mathematical relationship between indoor environmental quality and occupant productivity. The outlined relationships confirmed dependencies of occupant thermal comfort and productivity on various indoor environmental factors. These dependencies include the effect of CO2 concentration, VOC concentration. These relationships were analysed to rank nine indoor environmental parameters as per the degree of effect on occupant thermal comfort and productivity. These findings would help design professionals to design better office design that would improve occupants’ comfort and their productivity. Study results have different implications for professionals working in design, construction and operation of office buildings. It is recommended that design guidelines for office buildings should consider occupant productivity and incorporate recommended range for indoor environmental quality parameters in respective categories and criteria

Monitoren van werknemersproductiviteit in kantoren

Ongeveer 25% van alle werkenden in Nederland werkt in een kantooromgeving [1]. Het realiseren van een stimulerende werkomgeving in kantoorgebouwen is daarom essentieel. Tegenwoordig zien ook steeds meer werkgevers het belang van een goed binnenklimaat voor een succesvolle organisatie. Kleine veranderingen in productiviteit kunnen immers een significant effect hebben op de totale bedrijfskosten. Moderne technologiën bieden mogelijkheden voor het beheersen van deze productiviteit, maar ondanks alle onderzoeken die zijn gedaan op dit gebied, wordt de beschikbare kennis nog niet zondermeer ingezet voor investeringsbeslissingen in de praktijk. In deze studie is de beschikbare kennis toegepast op in gebruik-zijnde kantoorgebouwen en is de economische haalbaarheid van investeringen in het binnenklimaat in kaart gebracht

Monitoren van werknemersproductiviteit in kantoren

Ongeveer 25% van alle werkenden in Nederland werkt in een kantooromgeving [1]. Het realiseren van een stimulerende werkomgeving in kantoorgebouwen is daarom essentieel. Tegenwoordig zien ook steeds meer werkgevers het belang van een goed binnenklimaat voor een succesvolle organisatie. Kleine veranderingen in productiviteit kunnen immers een significant effect hebben op de totale bedrijfskosten. Moderne technologiën bieden mogelijkheden voor het beheersen van deze productiviteit, maar ondanks alle onderzoeken die zijn gedaan op dit gebied, wordt de beschikbare kennis nog niet zondermeer ingezet voor investeringsbeslissingen in de praktijk. In deze studie is de beschikbare kennis toegepast op in gebruik-zijnde kantoorgebouwen en is de economische haalbaarheid van investeringen in het binnenklimaat in kaart gebracht. Approximately 25% of all workers in the Netherlands work in an office environment. The realization of a stimulating working environment in office buildings is therefore essential. Nowadays more and more employers see the importance of a good indoor climate for a successful organization. Small changes in productivity can after all have a significant effect on the total operating costs. Modern technologies offer opportunities for controlling this productivity, but despite all the research that has been done in this area, the available knowledge is not simply used for investment decisions in practice. In this study the available knowledge was applied to office buildings in use and the economic feasibility of investments in the indoor climate was mapped out

Timing of group b streptococcus screening in pregnancy: A systematic review

Background: Group B streptococcus (GBS) is an important cause of neonatal sepsis. Guidelines advise to collect cultures at 35-37 weeks' gestation and to administer intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis in case of GBS-positive cultures, as well as in all preterm deliveries. Improved effectiveness of antenatal cultures might help to further decrease GBS early-onset disease. Objective: To determine the best timing of antenatal cultures, which may help establish optimal prevention of perinatal GBS infection in both term and preterm neonates. Methods: PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched for relevant articles published from 1966 to February 2009. Nine articles were included. Information about study features and predictive values of antenatal cultures were abstracted. Results: Positive predictive values for antenatal GBS cultures ranged from 43 to 100% (mean 69%) and negative predictive values from 80 to 100% (mean 94%). GBS cultures collected in late pregnancy had high positive predictive values for colonization during delivery. The negative predictive value was high and relatively constant regardless of GA. Conclusions: This systematic review confirms recommendations to screen pregnant women for colonization of GBS at 35-37 weeks' gestation, but one should be aware of the limitations of screening, with 6% of GBS carriers remaining undetected in antenatal cultures