Pre-versus post-occupancy evaluation of daylight quality in hospitals

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of space occupancy on indoor daylight quality in hospitals. It assesses the effect of various design variables on the indoor daylight quality in King Abdullah University Hospital (KAUH) in Jordan. By conducting a comparative study on the indoor daylight quality of pre- and post-occupancy in patient wards, it was found that hospital occupancy is highly correlated with indoor daylight quality. Investigative analysis associated with evaluative approach for daylighting situation in the patient rooms in KAUH was conducted in two phases: Firstly, pre-occupancy; using the lighting analysis software (RADIANCE) to conduct graphical and numerical simulation, and secondly post-occupancy, focusing on field measurements to develop a framework for hospital lighting design. A representative sample of patient rooms from each wing was selected. The data were categorized based on the orientation and location of the patient rooms to compare the two phases in terms of daylight quality. The study found significant effects of hospital occupation and interior design parameters on the indoor daylight performance in terms of illuminance level and daylight factor.