Beyond thermal comfort in the hospital rooms. Investigation of thermal summer comfort in patients rooms: case of Biskra hospitals

In Algeria, the architectural design of hospitals is unfortunately not subject to clear and specific regulatory thermal strategy, it depends mainly on the architect own approach to the issue of comfort design, materials, etc. This research aims to investigate the present comfort conditions in typical hospital configuration and under specific climate conditions of hot and arid regions. Two different hospital designs have been investigated in Biskra. A main town is southeast of Algeria. The first case study being the oldest hospital in the town, build in the late 30s during the colonial era and renovated recently. The second hospital is a brand new hospital. A series of measurements of ambient air temperature, patient surveys and interviews have been initiated in two typical wards. The results show that thermal comfort sensations in these specific spaces depend not only on architecture, design and typical processes, but also on physiological, psychological and behavioral parameters which widely influence the perception of the patients

Evaluation of the sound environment of the city of Biskra (Algeria)

This research concerns the quantitative evaluation of the urban sound environment of the city of Biskra. The aim was to determine the quality of the soundscape based on in situ measurement, using a Landtek SL5868P sound level meter. 62 points have been identified to represent the whole city. The results show that that the noise level varies from 54.1 to 75.8 dB(A) during the weekdays and from 50.4 to 74.2dB(A) during the weekend. In addition,90% of the results of the weekday measurements and 81% of the results of the weekend measurements exceed the recommended levels given by the World Health Organization. The present urban sound exposure could have a substantial impact on the overall comfort of inhabitants and increase the risk of the syndrome of the sick cities