Don't forget time in environmental design1.

This paper discusses the importance of including time in environmental design and the challenges facing environmental design now and in the future. Research shows that important factors for studying the effects of environments are time, body movement, control and sensory variability. There are many ways to incorporate time into the design and it is dependent on the type of environmental design. Research also suggests that discomfort in restrictive environments, e.g., in an airplane or automobile are strongly related long periods of inactivity and lack of sensory stimulation. Research also suggests that office workers' health risks are in a large part due to restrictive movement, training inefficiencies, and lack of variation found in the environment. A challenge is how to incorporate stimulating activities and variation into restrictive environments. Another challenge is the cost versus benefit of designing comfortable and healthy environments. Will comfort standards be accomplished through volunteer compliance or is it necessary to push for compliance through legal requirements, standards and regulations? Is it time to consider reducing discomfort as a necessity and apply what research has suggested, i.e., that variation and movement over time in interior environments promotes well-being and productivity? Is it time to accept the results of research and apply the findings to the designs and practice of environmental design?

Modeling the relationship between the environment and human experiences.

Within this special issue, different aspects of the environment are studied: aspects that are distant from the human body, close to the body and touching the human body. Consequently, different human senses are involved in these studies as well as the different consequences and effects on the brain and human behaviour. This special issue also highlights many remaining questions about the effects and relationships between environments and human beings and the need for more studies and research. In particular, future studies are needed that address long-term effects and the effects of the combinations of elements which provide comfort or discomfort.

Interior effects on comfort in healthcare waiting areas.

BACKGROUND: This study compared the effects of pre-experience and expectations on participant comfort upon waking, arrival to, and after an appointment, as well as the assessment of properly placed Feng Shui elements in three healthcare waiting rooms. METHODS: Participants assessed comfort levels using self-report surveys. The researcher conducted 'intention interviews' with each doctor to assess the goals of each waiting area design, and conducted a Feng Shui assessment of each waiting area for properly placed Feng Shui elements. RESULTS: The waiting area designed by the Feng Shui expert rated 'most comfortable', followed by the waiting area design by a doctor, and the lowest comfort rating for the conventional waiting room design. Results show a sufficiently strong effect to warrant further research. CONCLUSIONS: Awareness of the external environment, paired with pre-experience and expectation, influences comfort for people over time. Fostering and encouraging a holistic approach to comfort utilizing eastern and western concepts and ergonomic principles creates a sense of "placeness" and balance in the design for comfort in built environments. This is new research information on the influences of the comfort experience over time, to include pre-experience, expectations and the placement of elements in the external environment.

Possibilities to improve the aircraft interior comfort experience.

Comfort plays an increasingly important role in the interior design of airplanes. Although ample research has been conducted on airplane design technology, only a small amount of public scientific information is available addressing the passenger's opinion. In this study, more than 10,000 internet trip reports and 153 passenger interviews were used to gather opinions about aspects which need to be improved in order to design a more comfortable aircraft interior. The results show clear relationships between comfort and legroom, hygiene, crew attention and seat/personal space. Passengers rate the newer planes significantly better than older ones, indicating that attention to design for comfort has proven effective. The study also shows that rude flight attendants and bad hygiene reduce the comfort experience drastically and that a high comfort rating is related to higher "fly again" values.