Adaptive glazing technologies: Balancing the benefits of outdoor views in healthcare environments

摘要

Fully-glazed facades are increasingly common in contemporary buildings. They are further desired for hospital settings where greater connection to outside views is believed to contribute to patients' health and wellbeing. In hot-arid climates, such a design attribute may contribute to excessive solar gain and consequent energy demand. Intelligent glazing technologies provide a potential solution for this with their capacity to autonomously change their optical/thermal properties in response to varying outdoor conditions. Although critical for regulating energy use, in conditions of excessive solar gain, the change of the window colour from clear to fully tinted might obstruct clear views to outside.