MINNEAPOLIS — A growing body of research confirms that optimizing natural daylight and outdoor views in healthcare facilities contributes to improved outcomes and shorter recovery times for patients. It is also a key reason why a growing number of healthcare facilities are incorporating SageGlass® dynamic glass, a product of Saint-Gobain, into their new construction and remodeling designs.

Recent research by The Center for Healthcare Design and other organizations finds that natural daylighting and outdoor views benefit healthcare settings in a number of ways, including reducing patient depression, easing pain, decreasing length of hospital stays, reducing medications, improving sleep and circadian rhythm, lessening agitation in dementia patients, and improving the well-being of staff in the work environment.

Healthcare facilities are increasingly installing SageGlass, electronically tintable glass that tints on demand, because it maximizes the amount of natural light in buildings while controlling the sun’s harmful glare and heat gain. In addition, unlike shades and blinds, SageGlass does not block patients’ and employees’ connection to the outdoors.

In fact, SageGlass recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of its first commercial installation at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California, where the head of heart surgery wanted daylight in the operating room to reduce fatigue for the staff and improve the indoor environment. Shades and blinds, which collect dust and could be a source of nosocomial illnesses, were not allowed in their pristine surgical environment.

The hygienic and ergonomic advantages of dynamic glass also factored into Children’s Hospital Colorado installing dynamic SageGlass in its cardiac operating rooms. The hospital needed to enhance the working environment and energy efficiency in a unit that performs more than 800 heart catheter procedures and more than 500 heart surgeries annually.

SageGlass is also ideal for rehabilitation environments. That’s why the Memphis Veterans’ Administration Hospital integrated SageGlass in a new post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) clinic for veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The facility is designed to provide a home-like, relaxed environment for patients, filled with abundant natural daylight to help speed recovery.

Similarly, the Butler County Health Care Center in David City, Nebraska, is using SageGlass in its new wellness center to tame the sun’s glare, creating a more comfortable healing environment and preserving the connection to the outdoors for patients, members and healthcare staff. SageGlass is used in an exterior curtain wall that encompasses the facility, including an exercise room and interior running track. The glass ensures that the patients and guests are comfortable from both the glare and heat no matter the season.

Dynamic glass also offers safety benefits over traditional approaches to solar control. The Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center installed SageGlass to preserve a therapeutic connection to the outdoors in an adolescent mental health wing. Blinds were not an option as they would have presented a personal hazard to patients and possible damage to the space.

“Healthcare is one of the fastest-growing segments for dynamic glass because these facilities are realizing a host of benefits, from increased staff productivity to decreased hospital room stays for patients,” says Derek Malmquist, SageGlass vice president of marketing. “Architects are increasingly incorporating sunlight into the designs of healthcare settings not only for its benefits for patients and staff, but also because there is no cost for natural daylight and it is in a form that most people prefer. We are proud that SageGlass is a leading dynamic glass product for the healthcare industry.”

About SageGlass

SageGlass®, a product of Saint-Gobain, is advanced dynamic glass that can be electronically tinted or cleared to optimize daylight and improve the human experience in buildings. SageGlass manages the sunlight and heat that enter a building, significantly reducing energy consumption while improving people’s comfort and well-being. It can reduce a building’s cooling load by 20% and HVAC requirements up to 30%. It is a smarter, more elegant solution than conventional sun controls such as mechanical window shades, blinds and louvers. With SageGlass you can control sunlight and glare without shades or blinds while maintaining the view and connection to the outdoors. SageGlass is manufactured in Faribault, Minn., in the heart of “the Silicon Valley of the window industry,” and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saint-Gobain of Paris, the world’s largest building materials company.

About Saint-Gobain in North America

Saint-Gobain, the world’s largest building materials company, has its North American headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. As the world leader in sustainable habitat, Saint-Gobain is committed to inventing solutions to help professionals and communities around the world build and renovate comfortable, healthy, economical and energy-efficient buildings. The company has more than 265 locations in North America and approximately 15,000 employees. In the United States and Canada, Saint-Gobain reported sales of approximately $7.9 billion in 2013.

Recognized as a 2009 and 2010 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Saint-Gobain earned the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award, the highest level of recognition for outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through energy efficiency. For more information about Saint-Gobain in North America, visit www.saint-gobain-northamerica.com and connect with the company on Facebook and Twitter.

About Saint-Gobain

Located in 64 countries and headquartered in Paris with nearly 195,000 employees, Saint-Gobain, the world leader in the habitat and construction markets, designs, manufactures and distributes building materials, providing innovative solutions to meet growing demand for energy efficiency and for environmental protection. For more information about Saint-Gobain, please visit www.saint-gobain.com.