How much do we love to be outside on a fresh bright day, clear blue sky, gentle breeze on our skin, fresh air in our lungs? Our whole body seems rejuvenated and reborn. Well, it's not just all in the mind, it is a physical reaction too. Living in harmony with nature and natural rhythms as we can, keeps us happy and healthy. Eloise Sok-Paupardin, occupant experience and sustainability lead for SageGlass, discusses how important natural light is, how views are essential to our wellbeing as well as regulation of temperature, and more.
When we mess up the natural rhythms of the day by using too much of the same brightness and colour light for hours and hours a day, we mess up our internal body clock.
IntenCity, Grenoble - Photo by Valentin Napoli
Did you know that there are specific receptors in our eyes that process daylight to help regulate the internal "Master Clock" in our brain which tells or body that it is daytime and so therefore signals to it to move, wake up, etc and also that it is getting to night time, so slow down, relax, rest? These receptors in our eyes are known as the ipRGCs (intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells) react to light and are keys to helping the brain process the quality of light experienced.
We need more natural light in our buildings to help prevent sickness and ill-health on many levels and in this podcast we discuss how we understand the benefits of daylight, as it allows the natural functions of our body to behave in the way they need to: for instance, in the production cycle of some hormones, like cortisol or melatonin.
You probably know all about the importance of circadian rhythm in our bodies, and that we need to reset the clock by exposing ourselves to darkness and to light, but did you know also, that our core body temperature follows the circadian rhythm as well, its regulation is actually also conditioned by our exposure to light (and darkness) similar to the other circadian rhythms.
Hostellerie am Schwarzsee, view onto the Black Lake - Photo by Adrien Barakat
Eloise demonstrates the new Sageglass technology, an intelligent glass that reacts to sunlight, and which can be manually and automatically activated to reduce glare, heat through the glass, vary the amount of sunlight, etc, while still maintaining views outside.
With that in mind, we also talk about views, and the benefits of seeing blue sky, views of nature, how it evokes positive emotions, and echoes the early evolution of humankind, we evolved outdoors and we still have our preference for natural environments.
This is a really interesting video and podcast, as Eloise stresses the need for everyone's "right to light" and how it is important to create beautiful and good design, but never at the price of the planet.
To find out more about the technology of Sage Glass visit https://www.sageglass.com/eu
Credits: with thanks to George Harvey Audio Production for the calming biophilic soundscape that backs all our podcasts.
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