Wood and Comfort: A Comparative Case Study of Two Multifunctional Rooms

Watchman, Mélanie; Potvin, André; Demers, Claude

doi:10.15376/biores.12.1.168-182

Cited by 10 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The subjective evaluation of daylight in these rooms was consistent with the light levels measured for overcast skies in previous research. Watchman et al (2017) measured an average daylight factor of 4.4% in the wood room, which was much higher in comparison with the 1.6% daylight factor in the non-wood room. For a space with substantial natural lighting (without electric lights), the average daylight factor in a room should not be less than 5%, and the minimal acceptable level is 2% (CIBSE 2015).…”

Section: Comparison Between the Roomsmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…These findings were consistent with the work of Fell (2010), who found that a wooden room was described as more natural and warm than its non-wood counterpart. The presence of interior wood finishes has been shown to improve the colour temperature of an entire space by creating a warmer visual ambiance (Jafarian et al 2016;Watchman et al 2017). As shown in a previous study of these rooms (Watchman et al 2017), the wood room had higher b* values, which indicated a space that was more yellowish, warm in comparison with the bluish, cold colouring of the non-wood room (Table 3).…”

Section: Qualitative Description Of the Roomsmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…The presence of interior wood finishes has been shown to improve the colour temperature of an entire space by creating a warmer visual ambiance (Jafarian et al 2016;Watchman et al 2017). As shown in a previous study of these rooms (Watchman et al 2017), the wood room had higher b* values, which indicated a space that was more yellowish, warm in comparison with the bluish, cold colouring of the non-wood room (Table 3). The occupant survey results indicated that the objectively measured difference in colour temperatures was also perceptible in the subjective evaluations of the rooms.…”

Section: Qualitative Description Of the Roomsmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…Demers and Potvin (2016) explained that 'existing spaces offer the advantage to experience actual ambiences in real time, enabling to assess quantitative parameters as well as qualitative ones'. The instrumental survey measurements were obtained using the same survey tools that were used by Watchman et al (2017) in a quantitative study of these rooms. A multimeter (Environmental Meter EN100, Extech Instruments by FLIR Systems Inc., Nashua, USA) measured the air temperature, relative humidity, and illuminance data at a height of 1.1 m from the floor.…”

Section: Instrumental Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A post-occupancy evaluation of the influence of wood on environmental comfort

Watchman

Potvin

Demers

2017

BioRes

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Emerging research on the impact of interior finishes, more specifically wood, is beginning to shed light on informed design opportunities. As a natural building material with unique features, wood creates warm and pleasant atmospheres and has the potential of enhancing the well-being of occupants. This research attempted to better understand how occupants perceive wood in built environments and whether its indoor use influenced the satisfaction of occupants. The comfort of occupants may have been influenced by factors that were unrelated to the indoor environmental quality, which caused difficulties in comparing interior finishes in existing environments and limited research in this field. An exploratory comparative study, within a post-occupancy evaluation framework, investigated the subjective perception of occupants in relation to physical comfort factors. Thirty-six occupants completed a questionnaire to examine comfort satisfaction in a multifunctional room with extensive wooden interior finishes in comparison with a similar space without wood surfaces. The results indicated that occupants were more satisfied in the extensive wood surfaced room in terms of lighting, noise, and temperature, despite the similar environmental conditions in both spaces. Adjectives often used to describe the wood room included bright, pleasant, modern, and warm. Architects should consider the subjective qualities of wood when designing comfortable buildings.

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Section: Comparison Between the Roomsmentioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Qualitative Description Of the Roomsmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Qualitative Description Of the Roomsmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Instrumental Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A post-occupancy evaluation of the influence of wood on environmental comfort

Watchman

Potvin

Demers

2017

BioRes

Self Cite

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“…However, the NIF effects of light on building occupants have escaped the attention of built environment researchers in comparison to the number of studies on its visual effects. More specifically, numerous studies have been conducted in the past few years to explore the interaction of light/daylight and the built environment with respect to visual comfort, analysis factors/metrics, analysis methods, simulations and measurements, impacts of windows and openings, shading and control strategies, and effects of materials [22,41,46,47].…”

Section: Major Deficiencies Of Lighting Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

A photobiological approach to biophilic design in extreme climates

Parsaee

Demers

Hébert

et al. 2019

Building and Environment

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Highlights• The biophilic design approach has potential benefits in extreme cold climates, especially for Nordic occupants.• Lighting design should be developed to deal with the challenging state of living and working in northern latitudes.• Non-image-forming effects of light have become the missing link between human needs and lighting design standards.• Adaptive envelopes should be developed to optimize biophilic quality and fulfil the photobiological needs of Nordic people.

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Effect of the degree of wood use on the visual psychological response of wooden indoor spaces

Lam

et al. 2021

Wood Sci Technol

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The exhausting fast pace of life in modern urban society is leading to overwhelming stress and diminished cognitive alertness. Moreover, people are spending more and more time indoors due to building densification and urban lifestyle. Therefore, indoor environments that can promote positive psychological perception will become more important. Use of wood in indoor settings and its health benefits are currently receiving increased attention from design and research communities. In this work, a comparative study was conducted on the different degrees of wood use in indoor spaces.The results show that the effect of the physical attributes of degree of wood use, wood coverage and change of wood surface (different type and application position of wood) on the visual psychological responses (visual attention and psychological impression) of wooden indoor spaces were significant. The wooden indoor spaces with medium degree of wood use were easier to get more visual attention and were more helpful to give people the psychological impression of naturalness, warmth, relaxation, and desire to use.In addition, the results also show that when considering the influence of change of wood surface, people tended to pay more attention to indoor spaces with relatively high wood coverage and preferred the experiences in such spaces. The change of wood surface was an all-important aspect that needs to be considered on top of wood coverage. These results provided guidance for the design of healthy indoor environments.

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Wood and Comfort: A Comparative Case Study of Two Multifunctional Rooms

Cited by 10 publications

References 6 publications

A post-occupancy evaluation of the influence of wood on environmental comfort

A post-occupancy evaluation of the influence of wood on environmental comfort

A photobiological approach to biophilic design in extreme climates

Effect of the degree of wood use on the visual psychological response of wooden indoor spaces

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