At work, people now have to fluff up their feathers

With the slogan ‘Turn the switch too’ which was launched at the beginning of last year, is working with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy to encourage companies and individuals to also turn down the heating. But how do employees stay warm in the office during the winter?

“Over the past hundred years, we have increasingly cooled and heated buildings,” says Boris Kingma, TNO researcher in the field of thermophysiology. “With that we have started to outsource the temperature regulation of our body.” Company cultures have been created on the basis of those stable temperatures. But now that we turn down the air conditioning in the summer and lower the heating in the winter, we will also have to redefine the cultural agreements about clothing in the office.

Shawl

The fact that the agreements are changing can already be seen in the offices. From gloves without fingers, scarves as wraps and thermal clothing under your winter sweater to the most striking: the body warmer. Especially the latter is gaining popularity, especially indoors. For years, the garment was maligned from a fashion perspective. Meanwhile, the sleeveless jacket is labeled ‘cool’ again.

Because it fits so writes Ellewithin the ‘gorpcore trend’, which according to the magazine refers to ‘granola, oats, raisins and peanuts; or snacks that a hiker has with him”. Gorpcore is about the “outdoor camper look”, but it turns out that it can also be done very well indoors be applied.

Clothing has the task of limiting heat emission in a colder environment than the physical core temperature, says Hein Daanen, professor of thermophysiology at the VU University in Amsterdam. He explains that you can even calculate how much clothing you need to put on to maintain that balance of heat retention. “We call that the clo value.” If you know the circumstances, you can determine what you need. A short-sleeved t-shirt is 0.10 clo, a thick sweater between 0.20 and 0.30. An average office chair also insulates, with about 0.15 clo.

For the office, the advice is to work in layers

The number of clo also depends on physical activity. “For example, if you need 4 clo of clothing at rest, that can only be one clo when you are active.” At the office, his advice is therefore to work with layers. “This way you can easily switch between various clo levels.”

Daanen, who was also a member of the Fashion Institute, sees fashion developments that are in line with lowering the thermostat. “I expect that more clothing will come onto the market with heating elements: that will be the new trend.” For example, a jacket can be heated with a small battery. That has advantages, he says. “Directly heating the body is much more efficient than heating the room.”

Kingma of TNO expects office fashion to loosen up. “In general, creating a still layer of air around you is the most effective way to keep warm.” It is like the bird that stiffens its feathers in winter for extra insulation. That, only not in the backyard, but in the office garden.