The Southeast Tunisian cave dwellings of Matmata are a well-known historical model which amazingly adapt with cultural, environmental and climatic features of its surrounding. Many studies have discussed the sustainability of these dwellings but none has thoroughly discussed its performance on light of health and wellbeing of its dwellers. The WELL_V1 rating system, established in 2016, is a first of a kind certification system that solely focus on the health performance of the built environment. It gives credit to designs that enhance and promote physical and psychological health of the users. The study examines the health performance of Matmata cave dwellings in the light of WELL_V1 recommendations and features. The study revealed that these subterranean historical dwellings have proven good performance in relation to daylight saturation, indoor thermal relief, solar glare control, physical activity enhancement, exterior noise reduction, biophilic design and cultural enrichment. On the other hand, they lack sufficient performance in relation to air purification, social interaction, clean water supply, and altruism encouragement. Considering the scientific background, materials and technologies available for those who designed and built these dwellings, the health-related performance of their work seems unique and impressive.

The Egyptian government has recently established many governmental mass housing projects to meet the housing needs nationwide. These projects are characterized by their unified repetitive design that rarely consider geographic, climatic and social variations from one site to another. The study objectives are to examine the health performance of mass housing projects; “Dar Misr” as an example. Dar Misr consists of 150,000 units distributed over 15 different cities, and is fully finished with unified electrical installations and preinstalled luminaires. The study examines the health performance of the project’s lighting design, both natural and electrical light, using the “WELLV2 rating system as an evaluation tool method. WELLV2 is especially designed to rate buildings according to their health performance to eliminate the phenomena of related building illnesses worldwide. Field measurements and computer assisted simulations were done using luxmeter and ReluxTM tools. Lighting design of the study unit was examined in terms of intensity, uniformity, dimmability, glare, flickering, color reproduction and Melanopic ratio for both natural and electrical light sources. The study revealed lack of light intensity, improper light temperature, insufficient uniformity, high glare rates, high flickering, and low CRI values, all resulting in significant health impacts like visual blurring, eye fatigue, strain, headache, and insomnia. Previous studies have examined the performance of mass housing projects in terms of functionality, feasibility and sustainability, but this study examines their health impact and gives recommendations and modifications to improve their health-related performance. Further research is recommended to reveal the health impacts of mass housing projects in other design aspects (e.g. acoustics, thermal performance, ergonomics, etc.), to alleviate the possible negative health outcomes over thousands of families for years to come.

تؤثر شبکة الصرف الصحی بشدة على الترکیب العمرانی للمدینة والقریة نظرا لمتطلباتها الفنیة فی الترکیب والتشغیل ، هذا الأثر یشکل استعمالها للأراضی لإنشاء محطات المعالجة ، واستعمالها لشبکة الشوارع والترع لتمریر خطوطها مما یفرض شروطا ومتطلبات على تصمیم هذه الشوارع وتقاطعاتها ، کلما قل توافر هذه المتطلبات قلت کفاءة الشبکة وزادت تکلفتها ، تعتبر المشکلة مضاعفة فی الریف المصری نظرا لندرة أراضی البناء وغلائها مما یصعب معه توفیر مساحات لمحطات المعالجة التی تستهلک عشرات الأفدنة ، بالإضافة لمشکلة البناء الأفقی وانخفاض الکثافة البنائیة فی الریف مما یزید من تکلفة تمدید الخدمة، لکل ذلک یجب النظر بعین الأهمیة لتطبیق وسائل الصرف اللامرکزی فی الریف المصری لتوفیر النفقات وتقلیل استعمال الأراضی وتوفیر الخدمة الغائبة عن نسبة کبیرة من الأسر الریفیة فی مصر .