Figueiro and Rea’s work indicates the importance of designing workspaces where, year round, staff can keep their circadian rhythms synchronized with their location on the planet. Using data collected at the Aspinall Federal Building (Grand Junction, CO) via light meters worn by workers and questionnaires, the researchers found that, “Increasing circadian stimulation during working hours, whether via access to daylight or changes in existing electric lighting, may be something important for employers to consider…Although light plays a critical role in regulating human health and wellbeing via the circadian system, office lighting is typically designed to meet only the needs of the visual system…The present study is the first to obtain personal circadian light–dark and activity–rest patterns of individuals working in a building designed to provide daylight availability in the space, and the resulting data…show a relationship between calibrated light exposures in two seasons [winter and summer] and sleep quantity and quality.”
- Figueiro and M. Rea. “Office Lighting and Personal Light Exposures in Two Seasons: Impact on Sleep and Mood.” Lighting Research and Technology, in press.
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.