Eight Research Domains
What published evidence can tell a development team.
Each figure names the population, the year and the source. These studies did not measure a MORÈNA project, a sale price or a medical outcome.
01
Emotional Wellbeing & Sense of Safety
23.1%
of U.S. adults age 18 or older had any mental illness in the past year. The estimate is about 59.3 million people in the civilian, noninstitutionalized population.
Data year: 2022
National Institute of Mental Health (opens in a new tab)Mental Illness statistics, from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health
Development Relevance
A standard home is not planned around differences in privacy, retreat or how safe a place needs to feel.
Potential Application
A project team can ask which rooms need quieter separation or a more private retreat, then decide what the approved design can provide.
This is a population estimate of mental illness. It does not show that a building causes, diagnoses or treats a condition.
02
Cognitive & Sensory Differences
29.19%
of the combined primary sample in this study were in the high-sensitivity group. The sample was 906 university students in the United States, not a national population. Within that same sample, the authors describe an approximate split of 30% high, 40% medium and 30% low sensitivity.
Data year: 2018 publication
Lionetti et al., Translational Psychiatry (opens in a new tab)Dandelions, tulips and orchids: evidence for low-, medium- and high-sensitive individuals
Development Relevance
Light, sound, texture and visual complexity are not experienced in the same way by every person.
Potential Application
Specifications can offer choices in lighting control, acoustic separation and material intensity for the design team to evaluate.
Sensory processing sensitivity is a trait dimension, not a diagnosis. This figure is not a U.S. population rate, and it changes with the questionnaire and threshold.
03
Sleep, Rhythm & Recovery
30.5%
of U.S. adults slept less than 7 hours in a 24-hour period, on average. The sample is the civilian, noninstitutionalized adult population in the National Health Interview Survey.
Data year: 2024 survey · published April 2026
CDC / National Center for Health Statistics (opens in a new tab)NCHS Data Brief No. 559, National Health Interview Survey
Development Relevance
Nighttime light, noise and temperature are design conditions. They are not evidence that a room will change someone’s sleep.
Potential Application
A brief can note bedroom light control, acoustic separation and thermal adjustability for the project team to review.
The figure describes sleep duration in the adult population. It does not show that architecture causes or resolves short sleep.
04
Changing Needs Over Time
1 in 5
U.S. residents were projected to be retirement age by 2030, when all baby boomers would be older than 65. This comes from the 2017 National Population Projections, published in 2018.
Data year: 2018 publication · 2030 projection
U.S. Census Bureau (opens in a new tab)Older People Projected to Outnumber Children, release CB18-41
Development Relevance
A home planned only for the first buyer can fit less well as age, reach and daily routines change.
Potential Application
Teams can identify which rooms, reaches and storage should be able to change later, inside the approved project scope.
This is a national population projection. It does not predict the future needs of an individual household or the value of a property.
05
Functional Ability & Independence
28.7%
of U.S. adults reported a functional disability: a yes to at least one of hearing, vision, mobility, cognition, self-care or independent living. CDC estimates about 70 million adults.
Data year: 2022
CDC Disability and Health Data System (opens in a new tab)2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
Development Relevance
Movement, reach, sensing and independent living are not one default user.
Potential Application
Clearances, controls, bathrooms and entries can be reviewed against the project’s accessibility requirements and the licensed professionals responsible for them.
Disability prevalence changes with the definition and the survey. This figure is the CDC BRFSS functional-disability measure, not a clinical assessment of a resident.
06
Household Structure & Routines
29%
of all U.S. households were one-person households. That was 38.5 million households.
Data year: 2024
U.S. Census Bureau (opens in a new tab)America’s Families and Living Arrangements
Development Relevance
Who shares a home changes how space is used. Square footage alone does not describe that.
Potential Application
Unit mix and room planning can consider one-person households alongside family households as a project-specific question.
Household size is one contextual variable. It does not determine the spatial needs of a particular household.
07
Continuous Environmental Exposure
87%
of time, on average, was spent in enclosed buildings. The EPA-sponsored National Human Activity Pattern Survey interviewed 9,386 people of all ages across the contiguous United States. Diaries were collected from 1992 to 1994. The U.S. EPA separately summarizes indoor time as about 90%.
Data year: 1992–1994 diaries · published 2001
Klepeis et al., EPA-sponsored NHAPS (opens in a new tab)The National Human Activity Pattern Survey
U.S. EPA indoor-time summary (opens in a new tab)
Development Relevance
The property is a continuous daily environment, not a short visit.
Potential Application
Material, ventilation, daylight and acoustic choices can be flagged for the project’s environmental and design professionals.
Time indoors varies by person, work and place. The survey is not an air-quality test of a project and not a health treatment.
08
Person Level Response Is Measurable
Measured
Individual comfort, local temperature and chair use were recorded person by person for six months in one California office. The summer 2016 fieldwork included 37 office workers. That count is the size of this study, not a general rate.
Data year: 2016 fieldwork · published November 2018
UC Berkeley Center for the Built Environment (opens in a new tab)Occupant comfort and behavior: a six-month field study of personal comfort systems
Development Relevance
People in the same building can prefer different conditions. A research study was able to measure that difference.
Potential Application
A project may record resident preferences for the design team to consider. The study does not show that MORÈNA predicts comfort.
The sample is one office and one type of comfort chair. It demonstrates measurement in that setting. It is not a residential outcome, a clinical result or a live system capability.
