Natural and artificial light have a significant effect on the experience of hospital patients and can actually reduce stress and hospital time, says Rosalyn Cama, an interior designer and researcher specializes in health care design.
Susan S. Szenasy talks to Cama about her research and how the built environment and its use of lighting influences health.
"SSS: What is the one, big mistake designers make in combining daylighting with artificial lighting, from a human well-being point of view?
RC: Believe or not, many architects and developers are still not paying attention to the sun's orientation in siting a building. The light levels on one side of the hall versus the other can influence how long you will recover, therefore need different artificial lighting adjustments. The sunny side of the building can offer 46% greater sunlight intensity, which will require 22% less pain medication with a financial gain of 21% reduction in the cost of those medications."
Read the full story: Q&A: Rosalyn Cama
A Place to Recover from Illness: How Medical Respite Programs Help Unhoused People Heal
For people experiencing homelessness, recuperating after a hospitalization is difficult. Medical respite programs can help. Why aren't they more common?
Austin Bans Windowless Bedrooms
Thousands of University of Texas students live in rooms with no natural light. Many report detrimental mental and physical health impacts.
D.C. Residents Fight Light Pollution
New LED lighting has raised concerns about the health and environmental impacts of excessive or harsh lighting.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority