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In this age of smart offices, people have higher expectations from their workspaces, including the option to personalise HVAC and light settings for their workstations. Rajinder Kumar & Associates (RKA) has implemented this level of personalisation in the 54-acre HCL Technologies campus in Noida. Signify’s Interact Office platform for large offices, launched in India early this year, enables employees to personalise the intensity and colour of light at their workstation, thereby enhancing their productivity, shares Sumit Padmakar Joshi, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Signify Innovations India (previously Philips Lighting). Siemens offers ‘Comfy�, a workplace experience app to bridge the gap between rising expectations of employees and the physical workplace. “Workers also expect lights, window shades and HVAC to adjust per occupancy and the weather and circadian lighting systems that mimic natural daylight,� adds Bipratip Dhar, Principal Architect, Epsilon Architecture. “We use network-connected lights powered by ethernet cables connected to sensors to empower clients to monitor temperature, light and occupancy. Thermostats, virtual reality cameras, smart switches, dimmers and relays are some other components of the smart lighting and HVAC systems making up a smart office.� To this, Rahul Kumar, Principal Architect, RKA adds carbon dioxide air sensor levels that help monitor air quality in the office and the importance of green plants for contributing to worker wellbeing and office smartness. “Keeping wellbeing in mind, it is important to think of other ways of air circulation other than HVAC,� he says. “Chilling temperatures aren’t the best for the body so wherever possible we incorporate fans and other methods.� - CHARU BAHRI