Access to daylight and view in an office improves cognitive performance and satisfaction and reduces eyestrain: A controlled crossover study

Jamrozik, Anja; Clements, Nicholas; Hasan, S. S.; Zhao, Jie; Zhang, Rongpeng; Campanella, Carolina; Loftness, Vivian; Porter, Paige; Ly, Shaun; Wang, Selena; Bauer, Brent A.

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.106379

Cited by 74 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…The modules implemented various building technologies such as sheer shades and electrochromic glass control to isolate the outdoor lighting conditions and support the electrical lighting system to achieve the desired indoor lighting environment. More specifically, the shading and glass settings were carefully configured to reduce the impact of natural lighting on the indoor lighting environment while still providing occupants view access outdoors to avoid possible reductions to their productivity [ 57 ].…”

Section: Study Design and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Dynamic LED Lighting on the Well-Being and Experience of Office Occupants

Zhang

Campanella

Aristizabal

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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As a critical factor in the built environment, lighting presents considerable influence on occupants. Previous research across static lighting conditions has found that both illuminance and correlated color temperature (CCT) affect occupants’ physiological and psychological functioning. However, little research has been conducted on the non-visual impacts of dynamic lighting with daily variation in illuminance and CCT levels. The purpose of this study is to better understand the impact of dynamic lighting on office occupants’ health, well-being and experience at a living lab. Fifteen participants were recruited to work in three office modules for four months. Four lighting conditions were designed and implemented in this study, including two static lighting conditions and two dynamic lighting conditions with a specific predefined control scheme. A prototype lighting system with enhanced control capabilities was configured and implemented to ensure the desired lighting environment protocol. Both objective methods and subjective surveys were used to assess the behavioral and physiological outcomes of interest, including mental stress, sleep, productivity, satisfaction, mood, visual comfort and perceived naturalness. The results showed that the daytime behavioral impacts were either positive or mixed. Specifically, a significant alertness increase was observed in the afternoon, indicating a potential solution to reduce the natural feelings of sleepiness during the workday. There was also a marginal benefit for mood. The nighttime impacts include a significant decrease in perceived sleep quality and sleep time after subjects were exposed to dynamic lighting. No significant differences were observed for mental stress, productivity, visual comfort, or perceived naturalness. The findings present additional insights into the non-visual impacts of dynamic lighting and give recommendations for further investigations.

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Section: Study Design and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Dynamic LED Lighting on the Well-Being and Experience of Office Occupants

Zhang

Campanella

Aristizabal

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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“…Some field studies have found increased satisfaction with the workplace when occupants have a window in their space [97], have access to windows [98,99], or are satisfied with their external view [100]. However, these findings are often insufficient to generalize about any long-term effects of windows as they did not: 1) control other environmental qualities or contextual factors (e.g., time of day); or 2) have a sample size that can represent the general population [101].…”

Section: Effects Of the Outdoor View From The Window On Occupant Emotmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of a view from a window on thermal comfort, emotion, and cognitive performance

Schiavon

Zhang

et al. 2020

Building and Environment

160

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Visual connection to nature has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on attention restoration, stress reduction, and overall health and well-being. Inside buildings, windows are the primary means of providing a connection to the outdoors, and nature views even through a window may have similar effects on the occupants. Given that humans recognize environments through multi-sensory integration, a window view may also affect occupants' thermal perception. We assessed the influence of having a window with a view on thermal and emotional responses as well as on cognitive performance. We conducted a randomized crossover laboratory experiment with 86 participants, in spaces with and without windows. The chamber kept the air and window surface temperature at 28 °C, a slightly warm condition. The outcome measures consisted of subjective evaluations (e.g., thermal perception, emotion), skin temperature measurements and cognitive performance tests. In the space with versus without windows, the thermal sensation was significantly cooler (0.3 thermal sensation vote; equivalent to 0.74 °C lower), and 12 % more participants were thermally comfortable. Positive emotions (e.g., happy, satisfied) were higher and negative emotions (e.g., sad, drowsy) were lower for the participants in the window versus the windowless condition. Working memory and the ability to concentrate were higher for participants in the space with versus without windows, but there were no significant differences in short-term memory, planning, and creativity performance. Considering the multiple effects of window access, providing a window with a view in a workplace is important for the comfort, emotion, and working memory and concentration of occupants.factors that may differ when there are simultaneous inputs from other sensory systems (e.g., auditory, visual, tactile). Therefore, we must consider the possible interactions between visual and thermal perceptions. Ignoring the possible connections between these sensory systems could lead to ineffective design that could result in occupant discomfort or decreased performance, or even building performance issues such as energy waste.While it is not known conclusively whether occupants' thermal responses differ when there is visual connection to the outdoors, there is some prior research that suggests this could be important. Some evidence shows that a visual connection to the outdoors can have a positive impact on the occupants' overall perceptions of the built environment, leading to flexibility in their expectations [28]. For instance, if we take this general concept and hypothesize that having a view to the outdoors could help occupants increase their satisfaction with a wider indoor temperature range, then we could relax the temperature setpoints, which would then allow a reduction in building energy consumption [29][30][31][32]. A reasonable amount of variability in the acceptable range may even be preferable for occupants [3,14]. For designers, it would be important to define the relevant parameter...

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“…Several potential mechanisms have been suggested concerning the impact of lighting conditions inside schools and offices and its effect on performance among building occupants [ 14 , 20 ]. Included amongst them are increased visibility, enhanced mood and improved health and shading conditions, reduction from flickering effects from electric lighting, and better mental alertness due to circadian responses to daylight.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Daylight and School Performance in European Schoolchildren

Baloch

Maesano²,

Christoffersen³

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Aims and objectives: Lighting constitutes a critical issue in school design because of its importance as a strong enabler of performance, which is crucial for child development. However, data on light impacts on school performance are scarce. The main objective of this study was to assess the relationship between daylighting conditions in classrooms and mathematical and logical test scores. Methods: The population-based SINPHONIE (Schools Indoor Pollution and Heath: Observatory Network in Europe) study provides information on relationships between lighting conditions and school performance for 2670 elementary schoolchildren, aged 8–13 years from 155 classrooms in 53 schools across 12 European countries. These data were acquired through direct physical assessments and questionnaires completed by teachers, schoolchildren, and their parents, allowing for estimations of multiple objective daylight indicators, as well as subjective parameters such as the perception of lighting. Schoolchildren performed an attention/concentration exam that included simple mathematical exercises in addition to a logical ciphering test. The corresponding performance scores were compared against multiple daylighting parameters. Results: A positive relationship was found between performance scores and type of window shading, latitude, percentage of window facing south, and window glazing, with the highest impact due to the window-to-floor area ratio. Conclusion: Data collected in the SINPHONIE study across 12 European countries indicate that daylighting parameters are relevant to schoolchildren’s performance. As SINPHONIE was not designed specifically with lighting in mind, dedicated studies covering a wide range of classroom configurations would be enlightening.

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Access to daylight and view in an office improves cognitive performance and satisfaction and reduces eyestrain: A controlled crossover study

Cited by 74 publications

References 50 publications

Impacts of Dynamic LED Lighting on the Well-Being and Experience of Office Occupants

Impacts of Dynamic LED Lighting on the Well-Being and Experience of Office Occupants

The impact of a view from a window on thermal comfort, emotion, and cognitive performance

Daylight and School Performance in European Schoolchildren

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