A Return To The Workplace Brings Heating, Cooling and Air Quality Challenges

New research surveying 583 businesses, carried out by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), between 24 April and 14 May 2025, found that there has been an increased requirement for staff to return to their workplaces since the pandemic, and over the past year. Companies requiring staff to return to the workplace varies across sectors however there is a clear shift towards more firms requiring full on-site working.

The BCC data shows that over the past year 41% of businesses have required staff to spend more time working on site; 48% of surveyed businesses expect staff to be on site for all working days during the next 12 months; 62% of manufacturers and 61% of business to consumer (B2C) companies say that all working days will be on-site and 49% of manufacturers believe remote or hybrid working decreases productivity, which may be a factor in company decisions regarding onsite vs hybrid working practices.

Jane Gratton, Director of Public Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce explains “We’re seeing a clear shift towards more firms requiring full on-site working, but it’s by no means a uniform picture. The trend is being led by manufacturers and consumer-facing businesses, while around two thirds of B2B service firms continue to operate hybrid models. Hybrid working … does not suit everyone and, for some firms, a full onsite model may be the best solution for the business. With the cost of doing business continuing to escalate, firms are looking to boost productivity. Hybrid working can help firms attract and retain a skilled and engaged workforce. However, some employers are identifying significant benefits of bringing all staff together again onsite. How and where people work is likely to continue to evolve in the years ahead. A flexible working approach makes good business sense but, to drive economic growth, managers also need the flexibility to do what’s right for their business.” 

A survey conducted by KPMG in 2024 of more than 1300 CEOs found that there was a “hardening [of] their stance on returning to pre-pandemic ways of working, with 83 percent expecting a full return to the office within the next three years — a notable increase from 64 percent in 2023.”

The BCC research and KPMG survey results and feedback are also borne out by Pinsent Mason who state that “2025, has been dubbed ‘the year of the return to the office’.” and who go onto say that the “latest data on this is the Virgin Media O2 Business Movers Index (VM O2 BMI) which highlights the scale of the shift – almost nine in ten UK workers are now required to come into the office more frequently. The direction of travel is clear - CEOs and boards are pushing a ‘back to the office’ policy.”

The VM O2 BMI found that “Office attendance has continued to climb in early 2025, as over half (52%) of British employees are going in more frequently. Mobile data shows the first few months of the year were marked by a 5% increase in commuting trips, and a 1% increase from the same time last year. Wednesday remains the most popular day of the week (77%) to go to the office. 38% of workers now commute five days a week, and by June, a further 16% of employers will require full time office attendance, potentially bringing the total number of UK businesses with five-day mandates to 43%.”

“Buildings Are Unfit For Comfort”

According to the Facilities Management Journal (FMJ) with the push to return to work comes a warning that “whilst the desks are already filling up, the buildings themselves may not be ready.”

The article states that energy efficiency experts Exergio “claim that many office systems can’t match heating and cooling needs to actual occupancy, something that has to be solved “first and foremost”.”  The CEO of Exergio, Donatas Karčiauskas says “Comfort has become a deciding factor in whether staff accept the idea of returning to the office. If you want people to come back, don’t greet them with a stuffy meeting room or an ice-cold desk. I believe comfort increases productivity. We can’t demand people to come back to offices if we’re not keeping up with their comfort demands first.”

The lack of building readiness is also recognised by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) whose report “Progress in Adapting To Climate Change 2025 Report To Parliament” maintains that “The UK’s preparations for climate change are inadequate” and “Delivery of effective adaptation remains limited and, despite some progress, planning for adaptation continues to be piecemeal and disjointed.”

The CCC report goes onto say that “Towns and cities will become increasingly hot, with a large fraction of current buildings at risk of reaching uncomfortable and potentially dangerous temperatures in summer heatwaves, where indoor temperatures can have impacts on health, productivity, and comfort. Heat-related deaths already occur in the thousands each year but could rise several times over to exceed 10,000 in an average year by 2050. Estimates from the Office for Budget Responsibility suggest that unchecked climate change could impact UK economic output by between 3% and 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2075, while other estimates suggest up to 7% GDP impacts by 2050.“

A new report by the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) also found that UK buildings are not prepared for the impact of climate change. The report states that “The UK’s built environment is facing an urgent reality: climate hazards are no longer future threats but immediate dangers.” The report also says that “There is no climate resilience without a climate-resilient built environment. Buildings must be understood as the first line of protection in a changing climate. Keeping people safe starts with how we design, build and adapt” and without the adaptation of buildings to address temperature highs and lows, the risk of injury, poor health, deaths and economic damage will increase.

Simon McWhirter, UKGBC’s Chief Executive says “The UK is not ready for the extreme weather events of today — let alone the hotter, wetter, and wilder future that’s coming. Our [buildings] must protect and support us, not put our health and wellbeing at greater risk.”

The UKGBC have produced a roadmap which seeks to address how built environment professionals can respond, outlining necessary interventions and policy shifts required to ensure the places where people live and work can withstand the impacts of extreme weather, rising temperatures, and shifting environmental conditions and sets out recommendations to make UK buildings more resilient to the extremes of UK weather.

In the case of overheating the UKGBC states that active measures such as mechanical cooling or increased ventilation rates may be necessary to reduce internal temperatures, where passive measures are insufficient. They state that “the most effective active adaptation measures identified within the thermal modelling were introducing mechanical cooling e.g. comfort cooling combined with mechanical ventilation or air conditioning, using mechanical ventilation for night cooling and using mechanical ventilation systems with tempering capabilities to reduce the supply air temperature without active cooling, such as a mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) system.”

The findings above are backed up by many reports including one by Uswitch in 2025 (outlined by Talk Business) which found that “offices across the UK are struggling to maintain a comfortable working temperature, with employees reporting widespread discomfort and energy waste.” The research states that 64% of staff report that their workplace is either too hot or too cold, 46% say that temperature swings happen frequently and 23% report that their workspace is, more often than not, in the more uncomfortable temperature range. 61% of workers state the temperature comfort issue affects their ability to work, 21% say it happens on a regular basis and 23% have gone home or left work early due to workplace discomfort.

Ben Gallizzi from Uswitch.com says “These findings show that uncomfortable office temperatures are a real issue for many workers, affecting how they feel and how well they can do their jobs. The good news is that small changes, like upgrading temperature controls, keeping systems well maintained, and avoiding heating or cooling empty spaces can make a big difference to comfort and costs. Once businesses have taken steps to improve their energy efficiency, they can go even further by finding better energy tariffs, ensuring they maximise savings while keeping their workplaces comfortable.” 

Higher Demand For Heating, Cooling and Air Quality

It's clear that as the numbers of staff coming back to the workplace increases the higher the demand there will be for reliable heating, cooling, ventilation and air quality to address temperature and other problems in the workplace.  

Given the ever-changing UK climate, the increasing number of summer heatwaves per year along with cold winter temperatures and air pollution, it’s clear that heating, ventilation and air conditioning will be required in commercial buildings, if controlling indoor temperature, humidity and air quality is to be a priority.

Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Can Provide Workplace Comfort and More

An HVAC system can address the question of comfort in the workplace which as previously mentioned “has become a deciding factor in whether staff accept the idea of returning to the office.” However, temperature is only one aspect of the “comfort issue” in the workplace that an HVAC system can tackle. As well as temperature an HVAC can also control humidity and air quality.

Temperature

An HVAC system enables you to take control of the temperature within a building to set a comfortable temperature for the building occupants and helps to provide a comfortable working environment, irrespective of whether the outside temperature is hot or cold.

Humidity

Just like high and low temperatures, high and low humidity can also have comfort implications. Just as an HVAC removes the heat from the air, it can also remove humidity too, allowing you to control the amount of water vapour in the air in a building to ensure humidity is at the right level.

Air Quality

An HVAC system ensures there is always fresh or purified air in the working environment and plays a major role in keeping the air clean within a workplace. HVACs come equipped with filtration and where requested, purification technologies can be installed, which filter and clean the air they take in. As long as an HVAC is properly taken care of, the system is well maintained and filters are cleaned or replaced as required then your HVAC will filter out allergens, particulates, dust, germs and contaminants.

Good For Employee Comfort, Health, Wellbeing, Productivity and Efficiency

Having an HVAC allows for controlled temperature and humidity and good indoor air quality. Employees will be more comfortable allowing them to focus on their work and their mental health will be improved as they’ll be working in a less stressful environment. We also know that controlled temperature, humidity and improved air quality improves employee health and wellbeing leading to improved productivity, efficiency, and ROI.

Synecore – Experts In Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning

Synecore is an expert in HVAC design and installation in Kent, London, Surrey, Sussex, Essex. We are at the forefront of technological changes in the HVAC industry. We combine our technical expertise with the latest in HVAC technology to meet all your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning needs. Our design and fabrication service allows us to deliver sustainable HVAC design and installation solutions which match your floorplan, energy targets and specific business needs.

We are an approved supplier and installation expert for air conditioning brands, Mitsubishi Electric, Toshiba, and Daikin. These brands are the disruptors in developing clean and efficient cooling and heating solutions for commercial and residential properties.

We also offer Planned Preventative Maintenance on commercial HVAC systems. New installations benefit from extended warranty periods when maintained by Synecore.

If you are looking to install a new air conditioning installation contact our team or call on 01795 509 509. We’ll talk you through your options and provide you with expert advice on the right system for you.