Natural Lighting in Historic Houses during Times of Pandemic. The Case of Housing in the Mediterranean Climate

Abstract

The pandemic generated by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has led to a forced increase in the number of hours spent at home. In many cases, the lockdown situations, both in social and work terms, have meant that homes have suddenly also become workplaces. Based on all the indicators, this new relational scenario in the labor market displays a clear upward trend and is far from being a temporary situation. It is known that sunlight affects people’s circadian rhythm and that its reduction and even absence during this period of isolation has had a psychological impact on the population. This makes it necessary to reconsider the regulations applied in homes, in order to guarantee their habitability, given their recent widespread use as offices, as well as domestic spaces. In historic centers, the comprehensive renovations being carried out include improvements in energy efficiency and thermal comfort, which play a fundamental role. However, the energy consumption linked to artificial lighting and the quality of this lighting itself have remained in the background, as improvement strategies consist mainly in the replacement of incandescent or fluorescent lamps with LED lamps. Prior to the pandemic, the electric consumption of lighting systems accounted for 10–15% of the total, a figure which increased to 40–50% during the lockdown period. Aiming to improve people’s well-being while reducing energy expenditure on lighting, this article presents a quantitative approach to improving the levels of natural lighting in residential heritage buildings located in historic centers. According to data obtained from previous surveys of a sector of the population, homes built prior to 1950 were characterized by good natural lighting conditions and a very low incidence of health issues among occupants compared to contemporary homes. The objective was to quantify the circadian stimulus and lighting levels and to identify the areas or work areas in homes in order to optimize consumption related to lighting and to generate healthy and comfortable spaces. Results show that historic homes have enough naturally lit areas to perform office work during business hours. However, in the most unfavorable seasons, winter and autumn, it is necessary to use artificial lighting at the start and end of the working day.

Routines, Time Dedication and Habit Changes in Spanish Homes during the COVID-19 Lockdown. A Large Cross-Sectional Survey

“…The original self-administered questionnaire contained 58 questions, combining both numerical and categorical responses as well as Likert-type. This questionnaire is based on other previously validated questionnaires, collected by specifically related regulations [41] or applied in studies and accepted by the scientific community as a common way of collecting data on cohabitants in studies on dwellings [42][43][44][45]. This questionnaire was previously carried out among ten people to ensure its readability, comprehension, compliance, such that improvements could be made in order to launch it to the target audience.…”

The Interplay between Housing Environmental Attributes and Design Exposures and Psychoneuroimmunology Profile—An Exploratory Review and Analysis Paper in the Cancer Survivors’ Mental Health Morbidity Context

“…In addition, people living in small size houses and with lower levels of natural lighting, with no or minimal vegetation, were more prevalent to have negative emotions [152]. More specifically, people teleworking for extended periods in homes without a horizontal surface area of window openings and accessibility to patios or terraces had higher incidence of suffering from certain disorders related to circadian rhythm, due to inadequate levels of natural lighting [22]. In this context, higher levels of sunlight in the home environments have been associated with reductions in moodiness and sleep disturbance among dwellers in lockdown [155].…”

“…This variance of mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 crisis has been directly associated with residential environment and housing-related characteristics. Populations having access to domestic environments demonstrating high-quality traits compared with those people living in deprived urban areas, without access to residential public green spaces, lacking private natural spaces and/or frequency of viewing nature elements from home, housing interior design with poor natural lighting, and lower level of perceived indoor air quality had a protective effect against detrimental mental wellbeing outcomes [17][18][19][20][21][22].…”

“…Italy [152,155]; Spain [22,152]; Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Greece [152] • Adequate levels of natural lighting in indoor spaces (i.e., homes with more surface area of window openings).…”

Indoor Environmental Quality and Consumption Patterns before and during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Twelve Social Dwellings in Madrid, Spain

“…The objective in connection with thermal comfort is to maintain temperature and relative humidity within a range acknowledged as comfortable or sufficient for personal well-being [25,26]. Other items also addressed in indoor environmental quality studies include visual comfort and natural lighting [27,28], air quality (in turn related to the ventilation needed to eliminate or dilute suspended or deleterious pollutants and provide a source of clean air) [29,30] and acoustic comfort [31].…”