As debate over what to do about Town Hall heated up this fall, it was sometimes said that the money required to renovate the building was too much, given that only 10 employees worked there. Setting aside the fact that, as designed, the renovated structure is supposed to accommodate public meetings and the dozens of volunteers who staff our town committees, we wondered how those employees felt about the building—as it is today and as it is envisioned by the Town Hall Building Committee and its architect.
Our reporting speaks for itself. (See “Town employees want comfort, private meeting space, and more storage” on page 1.) With temperatures ranging all over the map, from a low of 27 to a high of 71 on a 25-degree Fahrenheit morning, the building was clearly unable to provide a uniformly comfortable environment for its workers.
An often-cited 2004 study done by a team at Cornell University found that on-the-job errors increased by a whopping 44 percent at temperatures at or below 68 degrees. A later study by the Helsinki University of Technology concluded that the optimal temperature for an office environment is 71 degrees, though productivity remains high until the temperature reaches 77 degrees. The Cornell study also estimated that raising the temperature to a more comfortable level saves employers about $2 per worker per hour.
Temperature isn’t the only problem in Town Hall. As our interviews with employees revealed, the lack of storage and the absence of a room for private meetings compounds the discomfort of employees and citizens alike.
Harvard is well served by its professional staff. We hope that as the selectmen and their architect consider ways to reduce the cost of renovating Town Hall, they consider the needs of our employees and provide them with an environment that helps, not hinders, them in the work they do each day on our behalf.
