Smart Building Blog

Every office knows the afternoon slump. Employee eyes glaze over as they find themselves stuck reading the same line of an email. A yawn spreads contagiously around the room. A small crowd gathers around the snack table. If your office had a nap room, you know it would be full.

Maybe it's just fatigue – but it's likely to be something more, especially in an older building. Commercial buildings are notorious for trapping CO2 and VOCs, which can cause lethargy, headaches, nausea, flu-like symptoms and reduced cognitive abilities. In a room full of people, these compounds build up throughout the day, causing the dreaded afternoon slump. Learn how you can use your commercial building to combat them!

Your building could be working harder for your occupants. The Occupant Experience (OE) is a key measure of building performance, creating multiple benefits for building tenants and owners alike, especially when combined with Operational Efficiencies (OE) to yield what we call OE² . Your commercial building can improve productivity, health & comfort with smart zone control of temperature, air quality and lighting to suit occupant preferences and workflows.

Is your building working for your occupants?

At 75F, we're on a mission to make buildings work for the people, especially the people buildings are designed to accommodate - their tenants. And, all building stakeholders, from building owners to facility managers to architects, can agree on the importance of creating the optimal occupant experience. However, comfort is recurring top issue and tenant complaint for commercial real estate properties. And, with 85% of commercial buildings lacking intelligent building systems, yet commercial real estate (CRE) properties are projected to have the highest growth in IoT connected devices deployments, the time is right to get smart with your building. It's more affordable and easier than ever to install a sophisticated IoT-based building automation systems to reduce energy and other operational expenses, while proactively optimizing workplace environments for employees and other occupants.

It never seems to end, does it? Half the year, the outdoor temperature is as pleasant as a frozen tundra (speaking for us Northerners). The other half of the year, we must defend ourselves from the onslaught of air conditioning so heavy we get goose bumps sitting at our desks or dining in public. How embarrassing! How revolting.

What's worse is that half the office (ahem, men) usually prefers the Arctic air stream all summer. However, at 6'0" and 150 lbs., I am often on the side of goose bumps. Now that the dog days of summer are upon us, we're fighting back!

It's summer! Hooray! It's time for your office air conditioning to either make you shiver in your summer clothes or not cool you enough when that blazing afternoon sun hits.

It's the time of year when you might have to keep a sweater, jacket or scarf at your desk in case the air conditioning is relentless. Our prayers are with you if you sit under a cold air vent. If you run hot, either a fan or co-workers who don't mind you going shirtless once in a while could be necessary.

Many offices' HVAC systems are asked to attempt to suit the needs of co-workers with a mix of air temperature comfort preferences while others are just set to one common temperature (e.g., 72 degrees Fahrenheit) by facility managers, hoping for the best and maybe hoping to save energy.

As a result, Office Thermostat Wars ensue!

Is 75F an energy management system? The easy answer is yes, but the whole truth is that our capabilities and energy savings extend far beyond that of a typical energy management system, or EMS.

From media tours and press coverage to tradeshows and awards, 2016 has been one incredible year! Sales are up 500%, our driven team has grown by 16 people globally and we are as determined as ever to trailblaze building automation with our energy saving solution! As part of the United Nations Environment Program- Sustainable Buildings Climate Initiative, we are here to improve comfort, while reducing our carbon footprint.