Last modified: 2014-09-11
Abstract
Healthcare facilities consume a considerable amount of electricity due to their 24-hours
services. In Swedish facilities, artificial lighting is one of the main consumers and accounts
for 26% of electricity use. A better understanding of users’ behavior in terms of maneuvering
the lighting in this type of facilities could contribute to minimize energy use. The individual’s
visual perception of environments or objects may guide or obstruct his or her behavior.
Consequently, the perception of lighting objects, including lighting control devices may
therefore influence behaviors concerning energy saving.
This paper presents an empirical study that aims to develop a conceptual framework for
human interaction with lighting control device in shared spaces in health care environment.
The framework is based on the Theory of Affordances (Gibson, 1979) and the Theory of
Planned Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991), which have been used for identifying possible factors
influencing optimal use of electric lighting. The study was carried out in a dining room and
two dayrooms in two Swedish hospitals where the buildings were designed and built under
the 1960s. The data collection included users’ experiences and behaviors in relation to the use
of lighting control devices. It also included users’ perceptions of environments and situations,
perceived behavioral control to adjust electric lighting as well as levels of environmental
concern.
The framework shapes better understanding of users’ experience and interaction with lighting
control devices in shared spaces in hospital environments. People generally have intention to adjust electric lighting when they are dissatisfied with lighting condition. Therefore, they are
likely to perform this behavior through interacting with lighting control devices. The feeling
of how important to adjust the lighting also relate to the intention whereas relationships
between subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control and the intention in this context
are questioned. Besides the levels of environmental concern, the study found that the device
characteristics which are easy to see and able to elicit people motivation and awareness to
save energy related to optimal use of electric lighting in this kind of environments. These two
characteristics also related to perceived affordances of lighting control devices which may
contribute to the optimal use through individuals’ perceived behavioral control. The location
and suitability of lighting control devices in relation to the originality of physical environment
may also support perceived affordances and visibility of the devices.
Keywords
References
Ajzen, I., 1991. The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
Processes, Volume 50, pp. 179-211.
Beecher, V. & Paquet, V., 2005. Survey instrument for the universal design of consumer products.
Applied Ergonomics, Volume 36, pp. 363-372.
Chen, L. & Lee, C., 2008. Perceptual information for user-product interaction: Using vacuum cleaner
as example. International Journal of Design, 2(1), pp. 45-53.
Cohen-Mansfield, J. & Werner, P., 1998. The effects of an enhanced environment on nursing home
residents who pace. GERONTOLOGIST , 38(2), pp. 199-208.
Desmet, P. & Hekkert, P. M. A., 2007. Framework of product experience. International Journal of
Design, 1(1), pp. 57-66.
Dijksterhuis, A. & Bargh, J. A., 2001. The perception-behavior expressway: Automatic effects of
social perception on social behavior. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 33, pp. 1-
40.
Doulos, L., Tsangrassoulis, A. & Topalis, F. V., 2007. Evaluation of lighting controls in office
buildings. Cairo, WSEAS Press, pp. 69-77.
Energimyndigheten, 2012. Vårdlokaler. [Online]
Available at: http://energimyndigheten.se/sv/Foretag/Energieffektivt-byggande/Belysning---
ny/Inomhus/Vardlokaler/
[Accessed 31 05 2012].
Evans, G. W., 2003. The built environment and mental health. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of
the New York Academy of Medicine, 80(4), pp. 536-555.
Figueiro, M. G., 2004. Occupancy sensors: Are there reliable estimates of the energy savings?.
Lighting Design + Application (LD+A), January.
Galasiu, A. D., Newsham, G. R., Suvagau, C. & Sander, D. M., 2007. Energy saving lighting control
systems for open-plan offices: a field study. Leukos, 4(1), pp. 7-29.
Galvao, A. B. & Sato, K., 2005. Affordance in product architecture: Linking technical functions and
users' tasks. Long Beach, ASME Press, pp. 1-11.
Gibson, J. J., 1979. The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Company.
Gibson, J. J., 1982. The theory of affordances and the design of the environment, 1976. In: E. Reed &
R. Jones, eds. Reasons for realism: selected essays of James J. Gibson. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates, pp. 413-416.
Hackos, J. T. & C., R. J., 1998. User and task analysis for interface design. New York: John Wiley &
Sons.
Hartson, H. R., 2003. Cognitive, physical, and perceptual affordances in interaction design. Behavior
and Information Technology, 22(5), pp. 315-338.
Kaiser, F. G. & Gutscher, H., 2003. The proposition of a general version of the theory of planned
behaviour (TPB): predicting ecological behaviour. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Volume 33,
pp. 586-603.
Kaiser, f. G., Wolfing, S. & Fuhrer, U., 1999. Environmental attitude and ecological behaviour.
Environmental Psychology, Volume 1-19, pp. 1-19.
Küller, R., 1991. Environmental assessment from a neuropsychological perspective. In: Environment,
Cognition and Action. An Integrated Approach. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 111-147.
Maier, J. R. A. & Fadel, G. M., 2009. Affordance based design: a relation theory for design. Res Eng
Design, Volume 20, pp. 13-27.
Maleetipwan, P., 2010. Design and validation of an instrument for measuring human perception of
lighting control devices. In: S. Kabisch, A. Kunath & H. Feldmann, eds. Abstracts of Presentations 21.
IAPS Conference, 27 June-2 July 2010, Leipzig, Germany Vulnerability, Risk and Complexity:
Impacts of Global Change on Human Habitats. Leipzig: DDF Digitaldruckfrabrik GmbH, p. 426.
Mannetti, L., Pierro, A. & Livi, S., 2004. Recycling: planned and self-expressive behaviour. Journal of
Environmental Psychology, Volume 24, pp. 227-236.
Moore, T., Carter, D. J. & Slater, A. I., 2002. User attitudes toward occupant controlled office lighting.
Lighting Research and Technology, 34(3), pp. 207-219.
Moore, T., Carter, D. J. & Slater, A. I., 2004. A study of opinion in offices with and without user
controlled lighting. Lighting Research and Technology, 36(2), pp. 131-146.
Norman, D. A., 1990. The design of everyday things. London: MIT Press.
Reed, E., 1988. James J. Gibson and the psychology of perception. New Haven: Yale University
Press.
Shapiro, D. H. & Astin, J., 1998. Control Therapy. New York(NY): Wiley.
Steg, L. & Vlek, C., 2009. Encouraging pro-environmental behavior: An integrative review and
reserach agenda. Journal of Environmental Psychology, Volume 29, pp. 309-317.
Story, M. F., 1997. Is it universal? 7 Defining criteria. Innovation, 16(1), pp. 29-32.
Taylor, S. E. & Brown, J. D., 1988. Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on
mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 103(2), pp. 193-210.
Taylor, S. & Todd, P., 1995. An integrated model of waste management behavior. A test of household
recycling and composting intentions. Environment and Behavior, Volume 27, pp. 603-630.
The Center for Universal Design, 1997. The Principles of Universal Design, Raleigh: North Carolina
State University.
Vihma, S., 1995. Products as representations: A semiotic and aesthetic study of design products.
Helsinki: University of Art and Design.
You, H. & Chen, K., 2006. Applications of affordance and semantics in product design. Design
studies, 28(1), pp. 23-38.