Sealed Windows Public Sector Office

Technocentral

As above, whole building is sealed apart from front door and obviously never opened emergency exits, are there any plans to put windows into Gov buildings? Hate the thought of sealed rooms during future pandemics. Haven't received one communication regarding any strategy, never liked lack of windows even pre covid.

floorpie

Presumably if it's sealed it has air conditioning and filtration?

Doodah7

What future pandemics?? I think one a century is plenty for everyone.

Technocentral

floorpie wrote: »

Presumably if it's sealed it has air conditioning and filtration?

Has air con, not filtration, anyway is it crazy to expect to be able to open a window?

Mrs OBumble

Technocentral wrote: »

Has air con, not filtration, anyway is it crazy to expect to be able to open a window?

If there's air-con, yes it is.

The real question is around the type of air con and whether it exchanges air with fresh air.

Technocentral

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

If there's air-con, yes it is.

The real question is around the type of air con and whether it exchanges air with fresh air.

Office manager asked maintenance guy this last year he said it just recirculated air, I must be in the minority who likes fresh air from open windows, kind of surprising.

Jim2007

Technocentral wrote: »

As above, whole building is sealed apart from front door and obviously never opened emergency exits, are there any plans to put windows into Gov buildings? Hate the thought of sealed rooms during future pandemics. Haven't received one communication regarding any strategy, never liked lack of windows even pre covid.

Were you expecting the Office of Public works to consult you?

Not sure why the public sector part is relevant, but no, you're not alone, plenty of people like fresh air, unsurprisingly.

The issue is that having open windows only benefits those who are sitting beside the window. Anyone who is more then 5 or 6 feet away doesn't really get the benefit. Not only that, it completely negates any active air conditioning system that's running in the background. No point having cooled, dehumidified air being pumped into the office if someone is letting air from outside in through the windows. So not only are they the only ones benefiting from the fresh air, they're literally making it worse for everyone else.

I used to run facilities for a large enough office, about 250+ people, and far and away the HVAC system is the biggest gripe of all. Not everyone is the same, and everyone has different tolerances, but the amount of authoritarians who demanded that the temperature be set to their preference was eye opening. I've had two people sitting next to each other ringing up every 5 minutes to cancel the previous guy's request and to change it from hot to cold, or vice versa.

There was some auld bint who had a window seat but complained of getting a crick in her neck because of the draught from the window. So we tried to move her, but she wasn't having any of it. She wanted us to isolate the blower directly above her desk and have that pump out hot air, all year long, to block the draughts. We couldn't do that so she came in with a doctor's note saying we had to provide her with a radiator. She'd be sitting by the window, with her jacket and gloves on and the radiator going full blast on days like today.

It took up so much time dealing with requests from staff that we had to limit them and only supervisors / managers could request changes be made. Day one, her boss rang me up and said she'd requested that the heating be turned on. In the middle of August. Everyone else in shirt and tie, sweating like Jospeh Fritzl on MTV Cribs, and she wants the heating on full blast. She complained one day because someone in a cellular office off the main open plan one had their windows open and there was a draught coming under the door.

I swear to God, it was worse than the car parking demands. I ended up getting in professionals to do surveys and wet bulb temps and all sorts of checks on seals etc. If you're too cold when the inside air temperature is 22 degrees Celsius, then you have bigger issues than the air con system.

@ OP: It is illegal to just keep recirculating the same air over and over, everyone would eventually pass out from lack of oxygen in a sealed environment. There is obviously some amount of fresh air intake, as all systems are designed that way.

wench

Open windows as a method of ventilation is very much dependent on being able to create a cross breeze.
In my 1970s office building, there is a warren of corridors and fire doors. You could open every window in the place, and hardly move any air as a result.

Mongfinder General

wench wrote: »

Open windows as a method of ventilation is very much dependent on being able to create a cross breeze.
In my 1970s office building, there is a warren of corridors and fire doors. You could open every window in the place, and hardly move any air as a result.

Add to this some rotten pigs in my place spewing arse slurry following a hefty canteen breakfast after a feed of pints the night before. It’s a Geiger counter that I need.