A 2021 survey by YouGovAmerica has shown that, of 538 Americans currently working from home, a majority want to remain home rather than return to the office. For property management, this will have many implications.
Can something be done to encourage employees to return to work?
We think developing a strategy to promote your building’s preparedness for tenants is paramount!
It is crucial that tenants are comfortable returning to the office. Ensuring that specific HVAC settings, filters, maintenance schedules, etc. are up to ASHRAE’s recommended standards can give your building occupants piece of mind.
NRCan has released an HVAC Operation self-assessment tool and guide specific to the pandemic period. It is available free from the NRCan website:
NRCan HVAC Self-assessment tool and guide
So, will people return?
No one knows for sure. But we had to make an educated assessment to determine this year’s Global Adjustment Class A vs B decision.
This was a difficult analysis because:
i) Buildings had to use their pre-pandemic peak demand factor (pdf) from 2019-2020,
and
ii) kWh in 2021-22 was substantially lower.
Our ‘bottom line’:
We believe that there will be a “New Norm” where the standard M-F, 9 to 5 will become the exception Vs the rule. This will mean that property management will need flexibility in their core competencies, support, and the right information to be in the strongest position to support a positive tenant experience!
