Boost Your Productivity with Air Conditioning

The Lower Mainland is a beautiful place to live and do business, but costs can be high. Smart business owners in Vancouver, North Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, Surrey, and Langley are always looking for ways to reduce costs and improve employee productivity. One surprising method may seem counter-intuitive at first: Install air conditioning. Air conditioning costs money to install and run, but your most valuable resource — your personnel — will be more efficient in a temperature-controlled environment.

Changing with the Environment

Not that long ago, no one needed air conditioning in the Lower Mainland. Winters were cooler and summers were temperate. Long-time Lower Mainland residents may scoff at the need for temperature control in the summer, even as they take it for granted that they will use heating in the winter. But climate change means that the global temperature is on the rise, and Vancouver is no exception. Business owners need to adjust to the changing reality in order to achieve the best possible results.

Workers Work Harder When Temperatures Stay Cool

Anyone who has suffered through a heatwave knows that too much heat makes us cranky, slow moving, and less likely to take initiative. Research backs up this common-sense observation. Multiple studies have found that air conditioning results in a boost in worker productivity. One study, conducted in the United States in the fifties, found that air conditioning improved the productivity of typists by 25%. A similar study found that nearly all business owners reported that air conditioning improved the productivity of their workers. A 2010 study conducted in Thailand found that even small variations in temperature could affect workers’ ability to complete tasks quickly and accurately. Economists such as Yale’s William Nordhaus and Northwestern’s Benjamin Jones have found that in countries too poor to have access to air conditioning, productivity takes a major hit in the hot months.

Too Much of a Good Thing

Looking at all this evidence, business owners may be mislead into thinking that cooler is always better. In fact, multiple studies have found that this is not the case. The key is using an air conditioning unit to keep your business at the right temperature, not at the lowest temperature possible. A recent study out of Cornell University found that workers performed better and made fewer errors when the ambient temperature was set to 24°. Any lower than that, and performance worsened; Any higher, and productivity decreased.

For A/C Installations, Contact Pro Ace

Pro Ace Heating & Cooling wants to help you utilize air conditioning to improve your employee performance. Pro Ace is based out of Burnaby and has been serving the Lower Mainland — including Vancouver, North Vancouver, Surrey, Richmond, Burnaby, and Langley — for 20 years. Contact Pro Ace today at 604-293-3770 to begin crafting an air conditioning solution that works for your home or business.