Visual Comfort Assessment of Hospital Patient Rooms with Climate Responsive Facades

Abstract

As advanced technologies become prevalent, they are being used more widely in numerous fields. The building sector is not an exception. One of these cutting-edge technologies is responsive facades, which are used in buildings and have an undeniable effect on daylighting. However, they have not been adequately evaluated for improving visual comfort in hospitals. This study investigates visual comfort in a standard patient room, based on applying four responsive facades. Simulations were conducted using HoneybeePlus, a plugin in the Grasshopper. Simulation-based results of annual indicators, including Annual Sunlight Exposure (ASE) and spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA), showed that different facades could result in several optimal modes. Furthermore, a more comprehensive investigation should consider factors such as Daylight Glare Probability (DGP) and Daylight Glare Index (DGI). Glare indicators revealed that facade directly affects patient visual comfort and can even have an adverse effect. When the optimal responsive facade is chosen, it enhances users' visual comfort throughout the year, yet there will be still glare probability in some cases. Based on the results, this probability decreases as patient distance increases, and Window to Wall Ratio (WWR) is not particularly effective in reducing glare. Nevertheless, when it comes to daylight availability, WWR cannot be ignored, and the first façade with WWR 60% showed the best overall performance.