Brief: Is there a way of increasing productivity in the workplace with automation?
The well-being and productivity of employees depends not only on their own personality but also on certain environmental factors. Office equipment contributes significantly to the health of employees. However, all the health and safety measures are useless if the lighting and the indoor climate do not meet the needs of the workplace. The ideal lighting levels, temperature and humidity in the office depends on the type of activity. The carbon dioxide (CO2) content in the air can also have a strong influence on increasing productivity in the workplace. A CO2 content above 1000 ppm can lead to complaints such as drowsiness, inattention, reduced concentration and headaches. So, is there a way of increasing productivity in the workplace using intelligent automation?
Solution: Using Loxone to create a conducive workplace that encourages more productivity.
With Loxone it is possible to easily adapt the lighting and the room climate to the needs of the workplace. This increases productivity in the workplace and has a positive effect on the well-being of employees.
Room Climate
The indoor climate has a major impact on our well-being and performance – and thus optimal levels can help with increasing productivity in the workplace. AUVA recommends a room temperature of 19 to 25°C for sedentary work with little physical exertion. The relative humidity at the workplace should be 40 to 70 per cent. A Loxone controlled heating system learns and knows when to give the command to the heating so that the room temperature is reached at the desired time. The desired room temperature only ever needs to be entered once.
Fresh Air
Another way of increasing productivity in the workplace is to ensure that there is ample fresh air supply as fresh air makes a significantly contributes to the room climate. If the CO2 content in the workplace is too high (>1000 ppm), complaints such as tiredness, headaches and a reduction in concentration can occur. According to EU standards, high indoor air quality is achieved with a CO2 content below 800 ppm.
The Room Comfort Sensor is used to determine the right time for ventilation. This precisely measures temperature, humidity and CO2 content and passes the information on to the Miniserver. The Touch and/or Touch Pure can also help ensure the ideal temperature and humidity in the workplace by taking accurate readings.
Basic Ventilation
For an optimal climate to increase workplace productivity, it is also recommended to increase the basic ventilation during working hours. The Miniserver does this automatically – when presence is detected in the office (by a Motion Sensor), the ventilation is controlled accordingly.
Lighting
Workstations must have sufficient brightness and good lighting conditions to maximise workplace productivity. Large window areas are an advantage here. We recommend combining natural light and artificial light to provide adequate lighting in the workplace. Experts recommend light levels of at least 500 lux for office workplaces (measured at table height, varies according to activity).
Daylight Responsive Lighting
Thanks to the brightness sensors built into our Motion Sensors, the light levels are measured and artificial light is switched on or dimmed accordingly. In technical terms, this is known as constant light control. This can be configured with logic in Loxone Config.
Take a look at this Use Case which has more of a focus on Daylight Responsive Lighting >>
Colour Temperature
Lights that can change colour temperature are very expensive and therefore are rarely used in offices and households. With the Loxone LED spots RGBW or the LED Ceiling Light RGBW, similar effects are created by mixing warm white light and coloured light without increasing the excessive costs. The Loxone App offers its own daylight spectrum, with which you can choose the light colour from bluish to yellow/reddish daylight and define colour sequences.
Get some inspiration from this smart office case study >>
Hardware:
- Tree extension
- Air Base Extension
- LED Spot RGBW (UK)
- LED Ceiling Spot RGBW
- LED Strips RGBW
- Motion Sensor
- RGBW 24V dimmer
- Room Comfort Sensor
- Touch
- Touch Pure
- RS485 Extension (example for controlling a ventilation unit)
- Valve Actuator
- Nano 2 Relay Tree
- Weather Station (which includes a 10-year Weather Service subscription)
The advantages of automatically ensuring the best workplace conditions.
Depending on the type of activity, different values for the optimum room climate and adequate lighting are recommended to increase productivity in the workplace.
- Temperature: 21-22°C
- Air humidity: 40-60%.
- CO2 content: <1000 ppm
- Light levels: min. 500 lux
Thanks to the automation with Loxone, the Miniserver automatically recognises the values stored within Loxone Config and passes on the necessary information to the individual control elements such as lighting, shading, ventilation and heating. Loxone thus not only provides the perfect climate/lighting but also helps with increasing productivity in the workplace – and all this is done in an environmentally friendly and energy-efficient manner.