Improve Mood/Increase Feelings of Wellbeing
Restorative Aquariums (03-20-13)
Researchers have known for some time that watching fish swim in fish tanks is psychologically restorative and aquariums stocked with fish are regularly used to defuse stress in spaces in which people are likely to feel tense, such as dentists’ offices.
Visiting Art Museums Is Restorative (03-19-13)
Psychological restoration, or restocking cognitive energy is generally associated with viewing nature.
Parks Differ (03-18-13)
Some studies are important because they rigorously confirm our expectations. A recent investigation by Wilhelm-Stanis, Vaughan, and Kaczynski of parks does just this.
Benefits of Green Schools (03-14-13)
Information collected by McGraw-Hill during its 2012 Green Schools Study indicates that there are significant benefits from greening schools.
Desirable Office Lighting Systems (03-01-13)
In a 2012 presentation at Light Canada/IIDEX 2012, Jennifer Veitch of the National Research Council Canada effectively summarized the findings of office lighting research carried out by her, her colleagues, and other researchers.
Autism and Pet Friendly Spaces (02-26-13)
New research suggests that people developing spaces that will be used by autistic people, for example, as classrooms, should insure that those areas are pet friendly.
Assessing Healthcare Design Payoffs (02-13-13)
Silvis reports information shared by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality linking particular healthcare design decisions to quality of care provided.
Sunshine’s Important (01-31-13)
Gueguen adds to the body of literature linking sunshine to positive mood, and although his findings may not be directly applicable to design, they do indicate the value of optimizing the amount of daylight that flows into designed spaces.
The Value of Clean (01-23-13)
The American Institute for Cleaning Sciences may not be impartial about the value of clean facilities, but their recent research paper on this topic, available at the website noted below, is based on independent studies.