Let's start with the good because, for the unaware, it might look like AC is the greatest scourge to the office worker. In reality, these units are actually pretty important for survival, for example, in the US, heatwaves statistically are one of the most dangerous weather patterns. Without modern technology or very specific building methods, we would have to spend most of the summer hiding from the heat instead of working or relaxing.
Similarly, AC is pretty important for maintaining clean and sterile air in places where that is vital for human health. In general, dampness is rarely a good thing, but hospitals absolutely need to make sure that transmissible diseases don’t just go from floor to floor, infecting every patient. People with allergies are also recommended to use AC at home to limit the risks of exposure.
Now it’s pretty widespread and some areas would be close to unlivable without it. In the US, where AC has been around nearly everywhere since the 1970s, there are measurable demographic effects from its adoption. For example, the birth rate in spring used to be lower and heat-related deaths in summer used to be considerably higher. Particularly if one has an air-conditioned car, on an average day, you might only encounter the “real” weather when moving from a vehicle to a building.
Despite office workers almost universally freezing from the AC (and this includes me), the overall productivity throughout the last few decades has improved, with some studies indicating that escaping the heat has brought about roughly 24% improvements in efficiency. So at least bosses and managers have a reason to keep their employees in near-winter temperatures, as it does seem to motivate them to keep going.
While warm temperatures might end up making a person sleepy, cold temperatures might make them lethargic. In theory, the cold could entice workers to move around a bit more to stay warm, but in an office setting, there is only so much one can do. Working at a computer, even very animatedly, is really just a lot of finger movements, while the rest of you remains motionless and still.
The result is that office workers have a strange dress code, where they might wear multiple layers of clothing, and bring a blanket and even thermoses just to maintain a certain body temperature while sitting in the middle of an urban environment. If one has to commute home, again, such as yours truly, this means being seriously overdressed compared to everyone else around you.
The only consolation is that one now knows, through the magic of the internet, that we aren’t insane for shivering in the middle of June, dreaming about warm beverages, and wrapping blankets around ourselves at work. At some point, one has to wonder if there is a more efficient way to cool an office while simultaneously not having all the staff compare whose breath is more frosty.
