Improving Interior Environmental Quality Using Sustainable Design in Jordanian Hospital Bedrooms

Abstract

As the wave of sustainability is sweeping across the major countries and cities of the world, the effect of the inevitable change is finding its way through to the health sector as well. Since the main functions of the hospital include healing the patient, it aims to provide adequate health services to people. Hospitals managers should strive to realize facilities that meet a certain level of demand. This study aims to present the interior environmental quality (IEQ) of bedrooms in Jordanian hospitals and propose a solution to improve indoor environment quality using sustainable design principles. A qualitative research methodology is used in this study. A comparative analysis is made between the original set up of the hospital buildings and the present conditions in which they are in. During the research, it was found that the design to be applied for a hospital should be following the healing environmental characteristics. Besides, the design of hospitals should be made with the climatic conditions of the area in mind. In the advanced countries of the world, hospitals are generally built with extensive research and important factors such as temperature, wind direction and humidity are taken into consideration. The design for a hospital building should be assessed according to the German Green Building Assessment (DGNB) criteria. It has been found that the one-bedroom is ideal for patients because it provides the necessary privacy and also greatly reduces the spread of the disease. In hygienic practices, there should be a first-class healing environment with evidence-based medical research. It was concluded that the practices involving the use of sustainable designs can be followed with the hints received from hospitals in the advanced countries of the world. Keywords: Jordan hospital; IEQ; bedroom; interior design; healthcare; green building assessment; DGNB