Timber Construction Case Studies
Wood in the Human Environment: Restorative Properties of Wood in the Built Indoor Environment
David Robert Fell, UBC Theses and Dissertations
In this study, the stress-reducing effects of wood and plants were studied in the context of an office environment. This study took a psychophysiological approach to stress and attempted to assess the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. Four office environments were studied in this factorial design: wood and plants, wood and no plants, no wood and plants, and no wood and no plants. One hundred and nineteen university undergraduate students were assigned to one of four test conditions. Skin conductance and inter beat interval were continuously monitored throughout the experiment.
Wood and Human Stress in the Built Indoor Environment: A Review
Michael D. Burnard, Wood Science and Technology Journal
To date, studies examining the psychophysiological effects of wood use in interiors have revealed reduced autonomic stress responses when compared to rooms without and with less wood. Therefore, by increasing wood use in design paradigms seeking to bring the positive health benefits of nature into the built environment, like restorative environmental design, building designers may improve the well-being of building occupants. This review reveals further studies are needed to better understand the psychophysiological responses to wood, and suggests specific aspects of wood such as colour, quantity, and grain pattern should be examined and how stress and stress recovery should be analysed.
Physiological Effects in Humans Induced by the Visual Stimulation of Room Interiors with Different Wood Quantities
Yuko Tsunetsugu, Journal of Wood Science
The present study demonstrated that a difference in wood ratio in the interior caused different physiological responses, especially in the autonomic nervous activity, by using actual-size rooms for the first time. To clarify the visual effects of room interior with wooden materials on humans, pulse rate, blood pressure, and brain activity were measured while the subjects were exposed to visual stimuli using actual-size model rooms.