Scientists Meet Scientists – TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk by Prof. Siobhan Rockcastle on “How do buildings shape our physical and mental well-being?”
Events, WCT |
On 27 November 2024, Prof. Siobhan Rockcastle (University of Oregon / Hans Fischer Fellow funded by the Georg Nemetschek Institute) will talk about “How do buildings shape our physical and mental well-being?”
Abstract:
In pre-industrial times, humans spent a substantial amount of time outdoors, exposed to daylight during daytime hours and combustible light sources at night. Over the past couple centuries, advances in electric lighting, construction, and climate control technologies have allowed for increasingly longer durations of indoor occupation. It has been estimated that the average human living between 41-46 N latitude now spends less than 2 hours outdoors each day. When compared to pre-industrial times, the contemporary human occupant is exposed to relatively low illumination levels during the day and relatively high illumination levels at night. While electric lighting can provide useful illumination for productive, social, and recreational activities when daylight is not present, humans have diverse and sometimes conflicting physiological and psychological needs. The light-dark cycle plays an important role in promoting alertness, sleep quality, hormone production, cognitive performance, and entraining the human circadian clock. While many visual tasks can be performed under relatively dim lighting levels, these dim light levels are not always adequate to promote healthy physiological and behavioral responses. Indoor light exposure is shaped by dynamic occupancy patterns under daylight and electric light sources and buildings determine whether occupants receive a healthy dose. This talk will describe the role buildings play in manipulating our exposure to light (and darkness) and the impact these manipulations can have on health and health equity across a population. Recent findings from laboratory experiments and simulation-based studies between TUM and the University of Oregon will be presented.
Date: November 27, 2024
Time: 13:00 CET (until approx. 14:00)
Location: online
Registration: The TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee talks are held online via Zoom. To register and to receive the Zoom link, please send an email to events(at)ias.tum.de.
THE TUM-IAS WEDNESDAY COFFEE TALKS
Every Wednesday after lunch, it's all about a new topic - current research highlights at TUM, insights into the work of our Fellows from all over the world, sometimes even topics not usually found at TUM, such as history or theology.
The talks held online start every Wednesday during TUM lecture time at 13:00 CE(S)T. Everyone is welcome - TUM researchers of all levels, students, visiting scholars, and anyone interested!
Each final Wednesday of the month, a topic related to the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals will be featured as a part of the Seminar Series of European Universities on Sustainability, a new initiative of the TUM-IAS in partnership with universities across Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe.
Would you like to receive regular updates on the TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk and the online link? Just send a short note to events(at)ias.tum.de.
An overview of upcoming and past TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talks can be found at the TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk Overview.