place science

How should homes be lit to increase the likelihood of healthy users? Ticleanu report that “A combination of bright daytime light and night-time darkness is essential for circadian entrainment and maintenance of a regular daily sleep–wake cycle. . . . Find indoor seating positions that receive abundant daylight levels but still allow for visual comfort to be maintained. For example, facing towards windows but at an angle and/or at a distance away from them so that glare does not occur, and visual task details are perceived easily, quickly and comfortably.. .

Kuhn and colleagues evaluated how time in nature affects conditions in the brain. The researchers report that “A whole-brain analysis [conducted via MRI] revealed that time spent outdoors was positively associated with grey matter volume in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and positive affect, also after controlling for physical activity, fluid intake, free time, and hours of sunshine. Results indicate remarkable and potentially behaviorally relevant plasticity of cerebral structure within a short time frame driven by the daily time spent outdoors.

Chernev and Blair’s research (four empirical studies) enriches previously derived insights related to encouraging the use of sustainable options.  They report that “Prior research has suggested that consumers believe that products made using sustainable, environmentally friendly technologies are likely to underperform those made using traditional methods. . . . we argue that sustainability is likely to produce a halo effect able to attenuate [reduce] and even override the negative impact of . . .

Ganesh and colleagues investigated how temperature influences user comfort.  They found via a literature review that “Improving indoor thermal comfort depends mainly on two major factors, air temperature, and air movement. . . . .  To improve IAQ and minimize the threat of cross-infection from various airborne diseases, the higher ACR [air change rate] at low airspeed should be used reliant on the occupancy capacity of the room.”  

Wang and colleagues extensively reviewed links between indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and mental achievement presented in the peer-reviewed literature.  They report that “The present review decomposes IEQ into five factors—indoor air quality, the thermal environment, lighting, noise, and non-light visual factors. It divided cognition into five categories—attention, perception, memory, language function, and higher order cognitive skills. . . .  results show that poor IEQ conditions are but not always associated with reduced cognition.