More and more offices these days have opted forraised access floors. You’ll find them in call centers and data centers. Libraries have them too, and even classrooms (especially those with integrated learning technology) also use them as well.

A raised access floor is a system involving a horizontal arrangement of load-bearing floor panels. These are supported by adjustable vertical pedestals, so that you have ample space under the floor. This space is then used for a wide variety of services, such as electrical and data wiring, HVAC systems, fire detection and security, and water drainage.

So why have a raised access floor installed? Here are some great reasons to consider:

• They’re great for cable management. Why have so many cables running around your office? In the open, they’re very easy to trip over plus they can get tangled often. Also, all those cables can look like a mess. With the spaces available with raised flooring, you can organize those cables properly, keep them out of sight, and then have them readily available for any type of upgrades or repairs.
• It also works well with your HVAC system. You need proper air conditioning for your office, but it’s not just your employees that need cooling. Your equipment, especially your computer systems, will need cooling too. This is why so many data centers have this system installed. The raised flooring makes your HVAC system much more effective.

It’s pretty much an accepted fact that a comfortable temperature for your workers will get them to work more productively. That’s also obviously true for many machines, and you have to make sure that they’re cooled properly.

• It can work for flood and water protection. The space under the flooring can efficiently drain the water when there’s a flooding problem. While you may think that this is not a problem when you’re on a higher floor of a building, it can be a problem when the water sprinklers go off in case of fire.
• It’s versatile too. You have greater flexibility in how you can set up your building services and workstations for maximum efficiency. Many offices can change layouts due to a change in organization or a change in focus for the company. Perhaps a department gets more people and more pieces of equipment. Or maybe a company is redirecting its efforts towards a different goal, so they need newer equipment to work with.

The system can adapt to these changes much more easily.

• The wires and other items in these spaces are also very much accessible. That makes things so much easier when it’s time for maintenance, repairs, and upgrades.

When you need to repair or upgrade your systems, often you have to put up with the inevitable disruption to the work that comes with the change. Now you don’t have to. The raised flooring allows for easy access with very minimal disruption to the work-flow.

Raised access floors aren’t as expensive as you might think. In addition, the benefits far outweigh the costs.