Day-lighting and sun protection in hospital facilities - Assessment of the used solutions

Abstract

The paper is a recapitulation of research into hospital buildings, focused on defining the advantages and disadvantages of the applied sun-protection systems and indication of the types of benchmark solutions. Proper selection of sun-protection systems in health care units is very important, because it contributes to creating the conditions of day lighting and their impact on patients' physiology. Moreover, sun protection systems influence the architecture of buildings - their external image and aesthetics of the interiors, ergonomics of rooms, providing comfort for the main groups of users: patients and medical staff, and contributing to energy-efficiency of buildings. The scope of the presentation is to draw particular attention to the complexity of this issue from users' perspective. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.