56 HEALTH
Monodraught natural lighting systems deliver real patient benefits for hospitals and healthcare facilities
IN THE PAST TEN YEARS NATURAL DAYLIGHTING SPECIALIST MONODRAUGHT HAS INSTALLED ITS SUNPIPES IN NUMEROUS HOSPITALS. IN THIS ARTICLE MANAGING DIRECTOR TONY CULL EXAMINES THE HEALTH BENEFITS AND THE EQUALLY IMPORTANT COST BENEFITS OF NATURAL LIGHTING TECHNOLOGIES.
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any scientific studies conducted in the healthcare sector now support the conclusion that natural daylight
shortens patient recovery times, improves their mood and generally promotes well being. Results have shown that the health of patients close to windows improves more quickly. It is a well known fact that SAD and S-SAD, which are said to affect 20% of the population due to a lack of natural daylight, are known to respond to the hormone serotonin, whose production is triggered by natural daylight. It is accepted that the elderly and infirm, suffer the greatest from SAD, mainly because they have difficulty getting out into the open air, especially in winter. The ability to pipe in natural light, particularly to areas where it is needed most, will therefore greatly benefit older people.
So it’s no surprise that architects involved with hospitals, housing for the elderly and other healthcare buildings are constantly adjusting and updating their designs to reflect the importance of introducing daylight and, more specifically, natural sunlight. Not only is there increasing evidence of the health benefits, but in this energy conscious time, it is increasingly important to recognise that the increasing use of natural daylight reduces the need for electric lighting, and therefore the energy costs associated with its usage.
PUBLIC SECTOR REVIEW
Among the most innovative solutions available for the provision of natural lighting is the Monodraught Sunpipe, which is increasingly specified for hospital wards to assist in patient recovery by increasing the awareness of changes in the daylight entering their rooms. Sunpipes achieve a much more effective solution than traditional rooflights because their super reflective tube intensifies and reflects natural daylight to deliver free outdoor light to the wards below.
Also, unlike the ‘shaft effect’ experienced with rooflights, the natural daylight from Sunpipes is evenly diffused by a translucent ceiling fixture, usually with less than 5% light loss from rooftop to diffuser. This compares favourably with a typical rooflight shaft where as much as 50% of the light captured at rooftop level is absorbed by the white painted walls of these shafts, resulting in a relatively narrow area of natural daylight below ceiling level.
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