― ENVIRONMENT ―
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Dr Aviat, can you start by telling us what fields of research you’re involved in? Everything related to the inertia of wood, how it’s cleaned in the food industry, the health aspects of wood in certain structures, and the study of wood’s natural antibacterial properties. I study all this in partnership with various players in the sectors in question including professionals and public and private-sector research bodies. There’s talk of bacteria-eating wood... what’s that all about? Wood has some amazing natural properties. It’s highly absorbent; we talk about the porosity of wood. In the food industry, it’s been shown that live bacteria placed on an unvarnished wood surface can no longer be detected 24 hours later, whereas they can still be found a er a whole week on cardboard and plastic.
An experiment in Japan focusing on wood bathing In the Land of the Rising Sun, there are close cultural and traditional links with forests and wood is used in almost all buildings. What’s more, Japan is the only country in the world where shinrin-yoku (also known as sylvotherapy or wood bathing) has been practised as a medical discipline since 1982. Reducing stress at work and in school A large-scale experiment was carried out in schools in Austria in which 26 pupils worked in a room with pine, spruce and oak furniture while 26 others studied in a classroom with no wood. One of the major benefits was a decrease of 8,600 heartbeats per day! That’s the equivalent of two hours’ less heart activity per day, improving daytime
concentration and providing better sleep quality at night: the authors refer to this as the ‘deferred effect’ of wood. A study in Australia involving over 1,000 employees in working environments with and without wood revealed that those in a room with 40-60% of the furniture, doors, wall panels etc. made of wood had 4 fewer days’ sick leave per year due to a marked reduction in stress and an enhanced sense of wellbeing – so wood has economic benefits, too!
It’s also been demonstrated that wooden furniture has a positive impact on stress, sleep, concentration and wellbeing as a whole.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, a single study carried out on wood (unfortunately we don’t know the essence in question) established for the first time that the Covid virus could no longer be detected on a wooden surface a er 24 hours, whereas it was still to be found over a week later on stainless steel surfaces and lab coats in hospitals.
Some essences’ own intrinsic molecules are even more powerful. We now know that solid oak and Douglas fir can kill antibiotic-resistant golden staph. How are the therapeutic effects of wood deployed? Forests impart an immense sense of calm, affecting a range of physiological parameters: their peaceful surroundings, green colour and wood essences really do reduce anxiety. It’s also been demonstrated that wooden furniture has a positive impact on stress, sleep, concentration and wellbeing as a whole. This ties in with the concept of biophilia first put forward by Edward O. Wilson in the late 1970s: Wilson suggested that humans have an innate preference for natural environments and materials. A related theme is biophilic design: spaces designed with users’ wellbeing in mind in terms of sounds, materials and colours; wood is clearly one such construction material, significantly enhancing comfort and a sense of reassurance. There have been a number of very interesting experiments in this respect:
Therapeutic effects in a hospital environment Findings from two other studies clearly show a link between indoor furnishings, materials and health. In Norway, a study of over 180 patients found a correlation with shorter hospital stays. Patients had an art print, a photograph of a natural scene, or a wooden panel in their rooms; those in rooms with wooden panels were discharged from hospital sooner than the others. Another study conducted on some thirty patients in the oncology department of a hospital in Bratislava, Slovakia in 2019 measured a range of physiological parameters before and a er renovation work on the waiting room to replace conventional white walls with larch and pine. The wood environment correlated with a significant decrease in stress levels.
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