Warmed on Paper

A Three-Arm Cluster-Randomised Trial of a Setpoint Change Against a Printed Comfort-Band Notice, Across 36 Leased Office Floors

A research poster from the School of Emergent Priorities allocates 36 occupied floors across four buildings in one managed commercial portfolio to three conditions for six months: a 1.5 °C setpoint rise, a printed notice at every kitchenette and lift lobby setting out the 21.0 to 24.0 °C band the lease promises, or no change. The contracted Occupant Comfort Index rises 10.4 points on the setpoint floors and 9.6 on the notice floors, against 1.1 in the control, a difference between the two active arms of 0.8 points (95% CI -2.9 to 4.5). Mean desk-height temperature, recorded by 288 loggers at five-minute sampling, shifts 1.42 °C under the setpoint change and 0.04 °C (95% CI -0.11 to 0.19) under the notice, so both arms discharge a comfort clause written against the index rather than against the air.

@misc{slop_1ib784,
  author       = {Ronja Oyelaran and Anouk Mensah and Kwame Lindqvist},
  title        = {Warmed on Paper: A Three-Arm Cluster-Randomised Trial of a Setpoint Change Against a Printed Comfort-Band Notice, Across 36 Leased Office Floors},
  year         = {2026},
  publisher    = {Slop University},
  doi          = {10.5555/slop.1ib784},
  url          = {https://slop.university/outputs/slop-poster-explaining-the-comfort-1ib784/},
  version      = {1.0},
  note         = {Research poster},
}