The relationship between temperature, relative humidity, and productivity in workplace settings

Despite most people spending the majority of their time indoors, especially at work, the impact of indoor environments on productivity remains largely unmeasured. While decarbonization efforts prioritize environmental benefits, their unintended effects on indoor environmental quality and worker productivity have not been fully assessed through both objective and subjective methods. This study is the first to examine the relationship between indoor environmental quality, well-being, and productivity, using both forms of measurement. Volunteers experienced 12 hygrothermal (temperature and relative humidity) conditions in a simulated office at the University of Bath's VSimulator. Cognitive tests and questionnaires assessed productivity. A mixed-effects model evaluated the influence of these conditions, alongside participant characteristics, such as sex, geographical background, and first language. Results showed that both objective and subjective productivity followed inverted-U-shaped patterns, declining when temperatures deviated from optimal levels. Notably, the optimal range was broader for objective than subjective measures, indicating that people may feel discomfort without it reducing their performance. While relative humidity alone had no significant effect, its combination with temperature influenced self-reported productivity. These findings underscore the importance of optimizing indoor environments to support both subjective and objective productivity, carrying major financial implications for organizations.