Bushra Obeidat

Shared vertical ventilation shafts are commonly used to ventilate bathrooms in multi-story residential buildings, yet weak pressure gradients and unseparated airflow paths can reduce exhaust effectiveness and allow air exchange between connected bathrooms. This study used computational fluid...

Daylight is a key component of evidence-based healthcare design, yet strategies that increase daylight may also introduce glare and interact with privacy measures used in shared hospital rooms. This study evaluated annual daylight performance in representative oncology patient rooms at King Abdullah University Hospital, Jordan, using climate-based simulation in Rhino-Grasshopper with Ladybug Tools/Honeybee and Radiance. Single-bed, two-bed shared, and four-bed shared rooms were compared across facade orientations. Annual illuminance, Daylight Glare Probability (DGP), high-dynamic-range visualizations, and patient-bed conditions were assessed, and the shared rooms were additionally simulated with and without fully deployed low-transmittance privacy curtains. South-facing shared rooms achieved the highest annual mean illuminance, whereas north-facing rooms generally produced lower and more spatially uniform daylight. Higher daylight availability was accompanied by greater glare occurrence at beds close to the facade. Under the modeled curtain scenario, annual mean illuminance at patient-head locations decreased by 77.7–99.7%, with the largest reductions at deeper beds. The findings show that daylight performance is governed by the interaction of room geometry, facade orientation, bed location, and privacy interventions. Annual room- and bed-level evaluation can therefore support oncology patient-room design that balances daylight availability, visual comfort, and visual privacy.

Rising heat-wave frequency and strong urban-heat-island (UHI) effects threaten thermal comfort and health in Jordan's fast-growing cities. While engineering studies suggest that multi-storey apartments trap more heat than detached houses, resident-centred evidence is lacking. A cross-sectional questionnaire was administered to 766 adults (378 apartments, 388 detached-house residents) in Greater Irbid Municipality during the June-July 2025 heat season. Instruments captured (i) UHI perceptions, (ii) perceived effectiveness of passive-cooling design features, (iii) mental and physical heat-related health outcomes (PHQ-2, GAD-2, PSS-4, heat-specific sleep and symptom items), and (iv) coping strategies and psychosocial resources. Group differences were tested with independent-samples t-tests. Apartment dwellers reported a stronger neighbourhood UHI (mean 3.44 ± 0.95 vs 3.12 ± 0.95, p < 0.001, d = 0.33) and judged surrounding trees/shade and natural ventilation less effective (Δ ≈ 0.17-0.29 scale units, p ≤ 0.01). They also showed higher perceived stress (PSS-4 8.40 ± 1.35 vs 8.01 ± 1.63, p < 0.001, d = 0.30), shorter sleep duration, and poorer global sleep quality (p ≤ 0.003, d ≈ 0.22). Depression, anxiety, 13 heat-related physical symptoms, coping profiles, and service-stigma indicators were statistically indistinguishable between dwelling types. Living in an Irbid apartment confers a modest psychosocial heat burden-elevated stress and compromised sleep-linked more to perceived shading and ventilation deficits than to housing form alone. Targeted greening, façade reflectance, and cross-ventilation retrofits around apartment blocks could yield meaningful well-being gains without major energy penalties in Jordan's semi-arid urban fabric.