BIOPHILIC DESIGN ELEMENTS AND NATURAL MATERIALS IN HEALTHCARE ENVIRONMENTS

Journal of Green Building · 2024 · 6 citations

• Architectural engineering
• Engineering
• Construction engineering

ABSTRACT Biophilic design elements in healthcare environments increase the connection between the built environment and its local natural environment and have been shown to improve the psychological and physiological well-being of patients and medical staff. Similarly, natural materials, which are part of the biophilic paradigm, have been shown to enhance the indoor qualities of habitable spaces. Despite these advantages, existing research on biophilia and natural materials in healthcare design has been mostly focused on specific case studies and thus requires further synthesis into practical design guidelines. To address this need, this paper uses case studies and evidence from the literature to enumerate predictable outcomes and develop visual guidelines related to biophilic design—daylight, views, gardens—with a final focus on materials. The implications of key design parameters are analyzed to their potential impact on patients and medical staff, including recovery rates, hospitalization days, pain medication intake, stress levels, active behavior, and task performance. The provided guidelines include biophilic light design specifications that can reduce hospital stays by 3.67 days and biophilic views that may reduce pain medication intake by up to 61%. Natural materials, including living garden vegetation, were shown to be most impactful on stress and behavioral well-being. An additional focus on natural materials for biophilic design is defined by developing a toolkit for analyzing effective locations for views of materials within a patient's room. The guidelines developed in this further support the transition into simulation and computational analysis tools that assess the health outcomes of various biophilic design strategies from a range of design characteristics and interventions to produce correlations to health and productivity metrics.

Thermal comfort and passive survivability in earthen buildings

Building and Environment · 2023 · 64 citations

• Environmental science
• Civil engineering
• Architectural engineering

Life cycle assessment (LCA) of natural vs conventional building assemblies

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · 2021 · 133 citations

• Environmental science
• Environmental resource management
• Civil engineering

INTEGRATING EARTHEN BUILDING MATERIALS AND METHODS INTO MAINSTREAM CONSTRUCTION

Journal of Green Building · 2020 · 44 citations

• Political Science
• Architectural engineering
• Construction engineering

ABSTRACT Earthen Building Materials and Methods (EBMM) exhibit excellent environmental, health, indoor air quality and affordability benefits. Despite these advantages, EBMM are not yet broadly implemented in mainstream construction. The main barriers and gaps to implementing earthen construction are analyzed through 126 survey responses and 10 in-depth interviews of a range of experts and end-users, and possible solutions to overcoming these barriers are presented. Specifically, the research indicates that according to earthen construction experts and potential homeowners, inability or difficulty in obtaining building permits is the strongest barrier to implementation. Additionally, existing technical data and environmental assessments must be synthesized and enumerated in order to support decision makers in advancing earthen building policy.