Sleep Environment

Chairperson: Xiaojun Fan

The goal of this research collaborative is to advance bedroom environmental quality and sleep research. Sleep is vital for human health and well-being. Emerging evidence shows that bedroom environmental quality (BEQ) significantly impacts sleep. In contrast, current standards for indoor environmental quality (IEQ), primarily developed for awake individuals, overlook the unique physiological needs during sleep, underscoring the urgent need for targeted BEQ research to establish evidence-based BEQ guidelines for quality sleep.

As climate change accelerates, creating sustainable sleeping environments becomes increasingly essential. Through a global network, standardized protocol and comprehensive database, this initiative will enable energy-efficient and cost-effective multidisciplinary solutions that improve sleep quality, public health, and environmental sustainability on a global scale, i.e., by defining optimal BEQ for sleep, proposing practical guidelines on how to set up and retrofit existing bedrooms that will be tailored to local context.

How to get involved
This research collaborative is looking for individuals who'd like to contribute in the following ways:

• Join our global network, connecting experts from diverse fields - sleep science, environmental engineering, public health, medicine, and other relevant fields. This network will promote interdisciplinary collaboration, consolidate resources and expertise, foster global awareness, and engage
  stakeholders but also identify the challenges we are facing and outline the directions for future studies.
• Conduct a literature review summarizing methodologies used in existing studies, highlighting strengths and weaknesses.
• Compile and consolidate requirements for sleeping environments from international and national standards.
• Participate in the development of an open-source version control standardized research protocol for BEQ and sleep research. This protocol will ensure consistent data collection and analysis, allowing researchers to compare findings across studies and develop integrated strategies that address factors like temperature, air quality, noise, and light, specifically for sleep environments.

If you are interested in joining this research collaborative, contact the chairperson.