December 16, 2019

Healthier Intelligent Environments

Have you ever felt drained indoors? You may blame it on the lack of coffee or on your poor sleeping schedule, but there might be other factors that play a role in making you feel sluggish and fatigued, such as lighting, noise, indoor air quality, temperature and postural conditions. As part of a recent emphasis on wellness in society, professionals are integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in building design and operations. Intelligent environments can not only offer an energy efficient, safe and comfortable habitat for humans, but also, play a significant role in making their occupants healthier. 

For example, a recent NSF-funded project of CENTIENTS explores the possibility of an intelligent office desk that learns user preferences and shapes user behavior through sensing, feedback and manipulation of environmental parameters in order to improve postural, thermal and visual comfort. Sensors with live feedback loop are embedded in the desk to monitor the workstation ergonomics and prompt workers to regain a healthy posture. The desk also monitors temperature, light intensity, humidity, air speed, body position, skin temperature, and heart rate data. After learning from the data, the desk operates the environment based on occupant’s preferred settings and recommends suggestions for improving occupant health and productivity.

How Does The Indoor Environment Influence our Health?

Shining the light on well-being: Do you have a window in your office? If not, then you might have experienced depressive symptoms and poor sleeping schedule due to lack of daylight exposure. Exposure to natural light is associated with better sleep quality, mood, reduced blood pressure, and increased physical activity. Lighting directly and indirectly affects occupants’ well-being and mood in buildings. A study conducted by the Well Living Lab, showed that blue enriched electric lighting helped employees sleep better at night and enhanced their alertness. Moreover, a study conducted by the American Society of Interior Designers showed that 25% of employees experience enhanced sleeping patterns with improved lighting in their offices. Lighting controls the circadian rhythm, and a desynchronization in one’s circadian rhythm can disrupt cognition and mood. Furthermore, smart lighting has proven to reduce eyestrain, stress and improve health in buildings. Looking at the problem from a different perspective, a recent study investigated the concept of context-aware lighting i.e. whether an occupant needs different lighting for reading a book or a magazine, or even a different lighting for reading versus using a phone.

Hold your breath over indoor pollution: You might have experienced sick building syndrome, which causes one or more of the following symptoms: coughing, sneezing, fatigue, watery eyes and respiratory congestion and then you might have felt relieved once you exited the building. People usually mistake these symptoms for allergies, stress or flu; however, these symptoms are caused by poor indoor air quality in buildings. Indoor air quality is degrading to the extent that air pollution in indoor environments is often 2 to 5 times greater than outdoor environments – and can get up to 100 times worse than the open air! Looking at possible solutions, a recent study developed a new IoT system that controls the ventilation of a building through the cloud. The system monitors and assures that the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) levels are kept within a healthy threshold.

A not “so-silent” threat: Too much noise in buildings and their surroundings has been associated with sleep disorders, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and impaired cognition. In offices, irritating noise may be caused by a variety of sources: noisy ringtones, loud co-workers, broken ventilation systems and so on. Not only does noise affect workers in offices, it also affects our children’s learning capabilities at schools. A recent study linked noise to lower math scores in classrooms. Therefore, noise pollution may be doing more damage than just “getting on our nerves.”

It’s a difficult position: If your job, like many people’s, requires you to be seated at a desk for lengthy hours, then you are at risk for chronic and joint pain. Staying seated for prolonged hours, has been linked with the risk of developing heart diseases, cancer and chronic health issues. Based on recent research, people are recommended to move away from their desks at least five minutes per hour. Increasingly, companies are moving away from the conventional desks and investing in adjustable-height desks, so employees get to select a working position that is ideal for their body.  

A heated-up battle: Thermal conditions in indoor environments go beyond dealing with traditional comfort of occupants as it may play an important role in their health. A study showed that Brown Adipose Tissues (BAT) in humans can be activated by non-shivering cold exposure. BAT’s main function is heat production through burning calories, in the form of blood sugar and fat. When activated, BAT may provide a potential treatment to deal with obesity and metabolic abnormalities. Currently, researchers are looking at ways to integrate such a therapy with the thermal conditions in indoor environments.