The Human Factor - daylight for health, wellbeing and recovery

Buildings dedicated to healthcare share one objective: to take care of people's lives.

Research has shown that natural light is essential in hospitals and care environments. Both for the staff, where the right level of light increases mental capacity and productivity, and for the patients and residents, as daylight aids sleep, promotes recovery and has a positive effect on mood.

Hospitals and critical care

In a hospital, the patients’ well-being is a priority. Access to the right level of warmth, light and even an outside view can have a positive influence on our health and recovery.

For patient recovery, studies show that;

Daylight reduces the duration of hospital inpatient stays (Bron: Beauchemin & Hays 1996)
Natural light has a positive influence on recovery time following operations by up to 8.5% (Dr Ulrich 2008)

An environment focused on care and wellbeing

Managing light and warmth with dynamic solar shading contributes to a better indoor environment.

For patients, the benefits are;

• Freedom & flexibility – enables patients to control their individual visual and thermal comfort using personal automatic control devices.

• Being able to prioritize natural lighting and the benefits it brings by filtering out excessive sunlight.

And for employees, create the best working environment by;

• Ensuring optimum levels of visual comfort according to the type of work or tasks being done.

• Eliminating the need for repetitive tasks such as manually lowering each blind individually, thereby freeing up time to focus on patient care.

Optimize facility management and energy efficiency

Most hospitals need to comply with strict financial and budget restraints and often have a particular challenge when it comes to the building’s energy consumption.

Hospitals typically use more energy than other types of buildings. Managing daylight effectively can play an important role when it comes to energy consumption for lighting, heating and cooling - studies show it can save up to 15-20% of a building’s total energy consumption.

With a dynamic shading solution you can;

Reduce energy consumption (healthcare establishments can typically use three to five times more energy than the average commercial building).
Manage the indoor environment in higher temperatures - the average outside temperature is increasing and there is a real risk of our buildings overheating.
Create a smarter building – collecting and analyzing data which can used, for example, to make buildings more energy efficient. There are many advantages to be gained; maintenance and repair intervals can be more easily predicted and remote adjustments made when needed.

Explore our solutions on the product and specification pages or call one of our team for an initial discussion.

Elderly and specialist care

In a residential care environment, the importance of daylight is the same, if not greater. Natural light increases the feeling of good health and improves quality of life. It can partly compensate for vision loss, promotes the functioning of the human body by producing vitamin D, regulates the biological clock that determines circadian rhythms and has a major influence on mood and body temperature.

Studies show

A reduction in deterioration of orientation and memory by up to 5%
A reduction in symptoms of depression by up to 19%
Decreased decline of functional limitations by up to 53%

“Natural lighting reduces depression among patients and improves sleep and heart rhythm, which in turn reduces restlessness, relieves pain and improves working conditions for staff“

(Doctor Anjali Joseph, Center for Health Design, 2008)

“Healthcare establishments use 3 to 5 times more “energy” than the average commercial building.“

(Source IEA, 2008)

Healthcare

See all references

National university Hospital - Singapore

Country: Singapore
City: Singapore
Date: 2011
Architect: DP Architect

A 14-storey office development next to the National University Hospital of Singapore. Motorized roller-blind systems have been installed in the auditorium, boardrooms and meeting rooms to provide internal shading and privacy for users.