
Investing in comfortable workplaces pays off. VDAB proves this with the results of its most recent Comfortmeter survey, conducted by Factor4. After the first measurement in 2017, a new survey was carried out in the winter 2024-2025 to assess how employees experience their workplace comfort. The result? A noticeable improvement in both satisfaction and overall well-being at work.
Investing in comfortable workplaces pays off. VDAB proves it with the results of its most recent Comfortmeter survey, conducted by Factor4. After the first measurement in 2017, VDAB once again assessed employees’ workplace comfort in 2024. The progress is clearly measurable.
More than 4,000 employees surveyed
During the winter of 2024–2025, nearly all VDAB employees, more than 4,000 people across 110 buildings, took part in the online survey. The Comfortmeter, a scientifically validated survey tool developed by Factor4, measures satisfaction across 13 comfort themes through 130 targeted questions. These themes include workplace organization, indoor climate, acoustics, catering, cleanliness, and office design.
For each building, the results were compiled into a clear, easy-to-read report. The use of a heat map proved to be particularly valuable, enabling VDAB to compare the performance of all buildings in its portfolio, both with each other and against the 2017 results.
Measurably better work
Following the first survey in 2017, VDAB implemented a series of measures to improve workplace comfort. And those efforts paid off:
Overall comfort satisfaction rose from 51% to 59% — an increase of 8%.
Topics such as acoustics, lighting, and workplace organization showed significant improvement.
Satisfaction with cleanliness increased by 14%, following a reorganization of cleaning services.
Satisfaction with temperature remained stable. A closer analysis revealed that summer comfort improved, while winter comfort slightly declined, a change attributed to temporary temperature reductions during the 2022–2023 energy crisis.
Comfortmeter: more than just a thermometer
The Comfortmeter is far more than a satisfaction survey. It is a strategic tool that connects building management, employee well-being, and productivity. Thanks to its comprehensive reporting, benchmarks drawn from over 10,000 respondents across 300 buildings, and in-depth analysis of each comfort aspect, organizations gain concrete insights and actionable guidance to improve their working environment.
For VDAB, this translated into better buildings, happier employees, and higher productivity.
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Comfortmeter makes the difference both visible and tangible.


In 2010, Factor4 was the first Belgian consultancy firm to examine the then relatively new and promising Dutch standard NEN 2767. This standard makes it possible to assess the technical condition of building components and installations in a uniform, objective, and reproducible manner.

As a building manager, you have to juggle many responsibilities at the same time. You must comply with increasingly stringent energy and climate regulations (such as EPC NR), organise structural and cost-efficient maintenance (through condition assessments and MJOPs), and at the same time keep energy costs under control through targeted energy audits. In practice, these trajectories often run in parallel, while the associated data is scattered across different systems and reports. As a result, the overall overview is lost — costing both time and money.

Investing in comfortable workplaces pays off. VDAB proves this with the results of its most recent Comfortmeter survey, conducted by Factor4. After the first measurement in 2017, a new survey was carried out in the winter 2024-2025 to assess how employees experience their workplace comfort. The result? A noticeable improvement in both satisfaction and overall well-being at work.