Step 3: Anaylse and Plan
You may generate a lot of data in the previous step (step 2), so the first challenge is to make sense of it all. The following approach will help you do this:
1.Undertake a high-level review of the data collected to check the quality of the information and get an idea of what areas are likely to be of most value – for example, anything that is very different to what you would expect to see.
2.Analyse in more detail areas that look to be poor performers. For example, if a particular indoor environmental quality metric is much higher or lower than expected analyse the data for patterns and confirm the data is accurate.
3.Focus on the big issues which are impacting your workplace, (see step 2, part b, Place, pages 18 to 19). What is likely to improve your IEQ?
Modern data analytic tools make this an easy and a cost-effective process to complete, so decide what questions you want to answer, identify the most appropriate analytical tools and you can then decide how you’d like to structure your data gathering to make most effective use of the data capabilities of your tools.
Planning projects
After completing the analysis, you are ready to plan. Undergo initial cost analysis and prioritise areas that are likely to offer the biggest return on investment and have the biggest potential for performance improvement. These are the projects which will have the biggest impact on IEQ for least cost.
The best way to do this is to identify workplace blockages that are impeding productivity. You can then use the latest research to identify the impact of improving conditions and build an outline business case based on the return versus cost of intervention. Projects can then be developed.
We recommend you test and validate the business case on a sample area before scaling across buildings, estates and your whole organisation.
You can download the complete guide here.