University architecture professor Kevin Nute and graduate student Aaron Weiss are testing the prototypes of their water light shelf, which can be found at three buildings in Eugene: the Women’s Care Medical Clinic, the Eugene Waldorf School and Thornton Orthodontics. The prototypes have been at these locations for three weeks.
The shelves reduce the glare of sunlight while reflecting light onto the ceiling. They have two purposes: to alter people’s moods and decrease negative effects on the environment. Nute and Weiss would like the shelves to reduce people’s stress in places such as a medical or dental waiting room where patients might have high levels of anxiety; they’re also hoping they distract people from such anxious feelings. Nute and Weiss are using a questionnaire to determine how successful the prototypes are at producing these mood-affecting results. The results for stress reduction seem promising so far, but the effects on distraction are not clear, Nute said.
The water light shelf is placed on the outside of a window. One inch of water rests on a 2-by-4-foot piece of Plexiglas mounted on an aluminum frame. The entire shelf weighs 100 pounds. Nute and Weiss want to improve the prototypes to make them lighter and easier to clean, and to improve the quality of shading the shelves produce.
Humans are hard-wired to notice changes in their environment and connect to natural changes. Many modern buildings cut off people from the outside, Nute said.
“My interest is in the real need for impact of interior spaces and the correct balance of the inside and outside,” Nute said. “The question was, how do we address that balance? A way to solve that is to bring the change indoors.”
People are intrigued by the water light shelves because of their uniqueness and natural qualities, Nute said. They are also aesthetically pleasing, the duo agreed.
The water light shelf project began in Nute’s architecture studio course during spring term of 2008. Students were asked to select a proven passive environmental control device and make it naturally animate interior space without reducing its energy performance, Nute said in an e-mail. Out of a class of about 16 students, Weiss’ design was chosen because of its simplicity.
“These wouldn’t be million-dollar things to build a new building for,” Weiss said. “They’re accessible.”
The design works on existing buildings, he said.
Nute and Weiss want the prototypes to become commercial, something a person could pick up at their local hardware store, easily install and instantly transform their room, Nute said.
“If the results are encouraging, we will try to get investment to manufacture it, reduce the costs and make it a more economically viable product,” Nute said.
Designing and creating the shelves was a collaborative process at the University. Nute and Weiss re  University of Oregon Translational Research Grant to take the design from an idea to a prototype. The Technical Science Administration built it and helped design the fabrication. Nute and Weiss collaborated with architecture professor G.Z. Brown and psychology professors Richard Marrocco and Dr. Jagdeep Bala to test the energy and human effects of the water light shelf’s moving light patterns. The study is monitored by the Office for Protection of Human Subjects. The results from the studies concluded that natural wave patterns the prototypes create help maintain alertness and have calming effects.
The best design is one that is simple and adaptable, Nute said.
“It can minimize complexity and maximize the positive effects on people and the environment,” Nute said.
The shelves will be featured on KEZI-9 News on Wednesday evening.
[email protected]