The Impact of Treadmills and Cooler Environments for Office Workplaces on Ergonomics, Heating Energy Requirements, Performance, as Well as Back and Cardiometabolic Health

The aim of the project is to gain insights into the effects of treadmills at a standing desk and reduced room temperature on back and cardiometabolic health, cognitive performance, thermal comfort, and the associated heating energy requirements of buildings. Healthy young men and women will spend four consecutive days in a controlled laboratory office environment after a baseline visit. During the baseline visit, volunteers are familiarized with the treadmill and start wearing a continuous glucose monitor. The four consecutive laboratory office days are each scheduled from 8:30AM to 04:30PM. In a randomized order, participants the first two office days either at 19°C or 23°C room temperature. The first office day of each temperature conditions is spent only sedentary, while for the second one is regularly interrupted with light walking on the treadmill. Otherwise, the daily routine and test battery will be exactly the same between days, including a standardized breakfast and lunch meal, an attention task in the morning, and frequent subjective thermal comfort ratings and blood pressure measurements. Interstitial glucose as well as heart rate and heart rate variability will be continuously monitored through wearable devices. Treadmill walking will be videorecorded.