Circadian Lighting Experiences in an Health Residence for Non Self-Sufficient Elderly People

During the last 15 years, several studies have investigated the relationship between environmental signals, such as light and human reaction, both in terms of health and productivity parameters. This paper presents a sample application of the Circadian Action Factor (acv) and Circadian Stimulus (CS) metrics with the aim of determining the potential impact of natural daylight and electrical lighting on elderly occupants in an healthcare residence, in terms of health related needs. The work attempts to compare two different metrics to propose an application protocol for the integration of circadian indexes evaluation into building design. The proposed comparative analysis is based on the spectral power distribution parameter (SPD). The aim of the work is to develop a standard method to account for the impact of key architectural decisions on the achievement of prescribed circadian system stimulus for healthcare residences occupied by elderly people.