New UVa and NIR health hypotheses: implications for design

DLA Annual Conference 2025
Parallel session E

Thursday, 22 May 2025
from 15:30 to 17:00

Lead

Lisa Heschong, author and architectural researcher, USA

Description

Hypotheses regarding the physiological impacts of non-visible solar radiation, especially UVa and NIR, are rapidly evolving. Proposed negative health impacts from reduced UVa and NIR exposure in modern societies range from childhood eye development (myopia) and neural development, along with adult energy metabolism, mental health and wound healing.

If substantiated, these biological mechanisms may have profound implications for future daylight design priorities. However, increased exposure to broad spectrum sunlight is hindered by our current indoor lifestyles. This will likely be further exacerbated by next-generation low-e window coatings, now requried by many energy codes, which favor visable light transmission while severely restricting both UVa and NIR transmission indoors. Furthermore, both UVa and NIR wavelengths are entirely left out of most all daylight research and analysis, making evalution of their public health impacts very difficult.

Objectives

This session will first briefly introduce some of the novel biological mechanisms and health outcomes currently proposed, and the maturity of available evidence.

A panel of three discussants and one moderator, will consider the design and policy implications of these hypotheses if substantiated, and take questions and comments from the audience.

Our objective will be to try to prioritize how these hypotheses might logically impact architectural design and urban policy:

  • Which populations would be most at risk from poor UVa or NIR exposure patterns?
  • What locations, building types, or space types have the greatest challenges or opportunities for remediation?
  • Which technologies offer opportunties or constraints?
  • How might these priorities interact with other future trends, such as climate change or urban densification?

And finally, we will assess the need for further information:

  • What additional health information would be most needed to inform these decisions?
  • What additional daylight data and tools would be required to support further research and decision making?