A Systematic Literature Review of Architecture Fostering Green Mindfulness

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This article provides a unique perspective on sustainable architecture by engaging in a systematic review of Green Mindfulness. Of interest is the thematic analysis of eight articles which identify the architectural atmospheres of Architecture, Material & Object, Color, Light, Sound, and Landscape & View as important considerations in the concept of Green Mindfulness.

While there are no surprising revelations in the thematic analysis of architectural atmospheres, this article does make an interesting contribution to the literature on sustainability in Architecture.

I would suggest a thorough revision of the sentence structure of many (not all) of the paragraphs. Often, there are long, run-on sentences with many repetitions. This does hinder comprehension.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer

First of all, we would like to thank you for the review and recommendation.

We reviewed sentences that were long and difficult to understand. Then we rewrote it to make it easier to read.

If you look at the old version of the document, you will find that those sentences are in lines 18-22, 131-134, 183-189, 277-279, 287-297, 309-313, 355-358, 372-376, 378-382, 397-401 and 408-413.

And those sentences are in 18-22, 153-155, 200-205, 295-298, 305-317, 330-334, 376-379, 393-397, 399-403, 419-423, and 430-435 line of the latest version of the document, respectively.

In addition, the content that we have added to improve this article. Also, consider the sentence structure for easy understanding and concise is important.

Best regard
Chaniporn Thampanichwat

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Such kind of paper can not be accepted as a scientific publication.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer

For the weakness of our topic’s background, the methodology, the findings, and the conclusions.

We have improved our systematic literature review with aims to support sustainability in architecture by finding the related publications and the architectural which were mentioned features as follows.

In the introduction, We give the meaning of architecture and green mindfulness for greater understanding in our article.

We add different information to articles to improve coverage and reduce bias from the author's point of view.

We also add the rationale and proof of the author's hypothesis that architecture tends to foster Green mindfulness. While Green mindfulness is a state mindfulness which can be promoted by external stimuli.

Moreover, we reviewed sentences that were long and difficult to understand. And, then we have rewritten it to make it easier to read.

For English correction we decided to use MDPI services due to our inexperience in the English language.

Best Regard

Chaniporn Thampanichwat

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

In General

This manuscript is fragmentary, unstructured, and unclear. References are used without in-depth analysis. The manuscript must be rewritten.

In Specific

There is no logical connection between section (1) and section (2) (see below).

Section (1)

Lines 31-32. The definition of sustainable architecture is incomplete. For example, according to Wikipedia, “Sustainable architecture is architecture that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings through improved efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, development space and the ecosystem at large. Sustainable architecture uses a conscious approach to energy and ecological conservation in the design of the built environment.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_architecture) It is necessary to give a full definition of the term "sustainable architecture".

Lines 32-34. References [7-11] reflect the same point of view, and there is a fair amount of research showing that LEED-certified buildings are more sustainable than non-LEED-certified buildings. Authors should seek out this literature (e.g., https://doi.org/10.3390/en14030749) and discuss these two conflicting views. In addition, post-occupancy analysis of (un)sustainable buildings should also be discussed.

Section (2)

Lines 46-47. Ref [26] (p.6) It was written “Here I propose two research paths, oriented respectively toward the inner psychic environment (Green Mindfulness) and the outer natural environment (Biophilic Design).

According to ref [26] (p.62) in the “Inner environment: Green Mindfulness in Ecopsychology” It was written “A promising research track is Green Mindfulness. Mindfulness is an attitude that is cultivated through a meditation practice developed starting from the Buddhist experience, oriented toward bringing the subject’s attention to focus on the present moment in a non-judgmental way. The Buddhist tradition has  developed  practices  to  cultivate  moments  of  awareness  (mindful),  with  the goal of becoming a stable state of awareness (mindfulness).”

According to ref [26] (p.65), in the Outer environment: Biophilic Design in Architecture subsection, it was written “…The first four patterns –light, prospect and protection, airflow, views –concern the “looking for a place to live” issue (Buss, 2016, p. 83-84) and are the basis of the savannah hypothesis (Orians, 1980; 1986).” Where prospect was explain in the following way “The 'prospect' in architecture indicates the vision of an object on a vertical plane, just like the 'plan' indicates it on a horizontal plane”.

Lines 48-50. In this paragraph, the authors used three references [27,22,28] to conclude that “these behaviors succeeding sustainable architectural design”. An analysis of these three references showed that the term "green mindfulness" does not appear in any of the articles. Below are the main findings from each article.

The reference [27] contains the following “…We introduce the concept of mindful consumption (MC) as the guiding principle in this approach. MC is premised on a consumer mindset of caring for self, for community, and for nature, that translates behaviorally into tempering the self-defeating excesses associated with acquisitive, repetitive and aspirational consumption. We also make the business case for fostering mindful consumption, and illustrate how the marketing function can be harnessed to successfully implement the customer-centric approach to sustainability.”

The reference [22] contain the following “…The correlational evidence we reviewed points toward a pattern of lifestyles that reflect an inclination to both mindfulness practice and sustainability-related behaviors, alongside numerous other manifestations, for example heightened compassion and connectedness to nature, weaker social dominance orientation and materialism, greater health-related behavior and sense of wellbeing.”

The reference [28] contains the following “…We identified six leading theoretical links between mindfulness and sustainability which find backing in empirical work: reduced automaticity, enhanced health and subjective well-being, greater connectedness with nature, improved pro-sociality, recognition of intrinsic values and openness to new experiences.”

 

Therefore, these three articles have been formally cited. Critical analysis of these articles was not conducted.

 

Lines 51-52. It was written “…Architecture as one of the physical environments tends to initiate green mindfulness [1,29–31].”

The reference [29] describes the problem of the relationship between mindfulness and sustainability in architecture. The authors should indicate in their article the scientific novelty in comparison with the reference [29]. In the reference [30], it was written “…We believe that intentionality and mindfulness in the design process of sustainable spaces will bring about intentionality and mindfulness in the thoughts and actions of people using the space.” The authors should indicate in their article the scientific novelty in comparison with the reference [30]. The reference [31] is not related to the goal of the reviewed manuscript. The authors should explain why reference [31] was used?

Lines 52-53. It was written “…Because of the discrete areas of knowledge between architecture and Green mindfulness [32]”. The term "green mindfulness" does not appear in the reference [32].

 

Lines 75-77. For the first time, this manuscript contains a definition of "Green Mindfulness".

According to Danon (2018, p.56), “Green Mindfulness”…. is the expansion of one’s individual boundaries towards a broader sense of sharing with the world and, in particular, with the natural world to which we belong. [reference 33], p.14]. The first 75 lines of the peer-reviewed article did not help to understand what “his article is about.

 

Lines 99-101. Reference [50] does not contain the term "architecture".

Lines 103-108. I propose to rewrite the introduction, where in the first paragraph there will be two definitions for sustainable architecture and for "Green Mindfulness".

Lines 109-154. 2.2 The Architecture: for fostering Green mindfulness as a state of mindfulness subsection contains the term “Architecture”. In this context, it is not clear whether "Architecture" is part of the science of building or is it a structure of Green Mindfulness?

Lines 380-381. It was written “…there has been rapid growth in mindfulness studies in recent years as well [1,29-31,50]…” Show citations from these articles that confirm that “there has been a rapid growth in mindfulness research in recent years” in the field of architecture.

Lines 381-382. It was written “…the previous study found that the knowledge gap between architecture and Green mindfulness is wide [29,32].” Show citations from these articles that confirm that “there has been a rapid growth in mindfulness research in recent years” in the field of architecture.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer

First of all, thank you for the thoughtful review that allowed us to check our understanding and take corrective action for a deeper understanding of our readers. In addition to improving this article, we will consider this learning for future article writing.

Refer to the comments on lines 31-32 in the previous version regarding the definition of Sustainable Architecture. Because we want to be a part of supporting sustainability in architecture, not just sustainable architecture. We replace the definition of all design methods related to sustainability in architecture in lines 31-33 of the latest version.

To provide comprehensive information on both good and unsuccessful sustainable architectures. We provide both views in lines 35-39, replacing lines 32-34 in the old version.

To justify the use of the term Green mindfulness and provide additional meaning for the reader's understanding. So we inserted the data in lines 54-57 to fix the problem of lines 46-47 in the previous version.

To clarify lines 48-50 address the benefits of mindfulness about sustainability, which we call green mindfulness. We decided to change green mindfulness to mindfulness to match our reference. The sustainability implications are then identified later. See it in lines 50-53.

For reasons of being one of the physical environments of architecture and the possibility of architecture affecting psychological factors. It's on lines 58-67, replacing lines 51-52 in the latest version.

For the accuracy of the information, the term Green mindfulness in line 69 (52-53 in the latest version) is replaced by mindfulness. For line 70, the term green mindfulness remains, since it refers to mindfulness about sustainability.

For lines 75-77, I've changed the definition of green mindfulness to lines 91-93.

We apologize for the mistake and thank you for your thorough review. We have eliminated citation 50 from the article.

I've added information about the definitions for comprehension as per the instructions for lines 103-108, leading up to lines 119-121.

For a better understanding of the term architecture in section 2.2 or lines 109-154, I've added the meaning and relevance of architecture to lines 130-133.

I've added citations and evidence about the rapid growth of mindfulness research to lines 401-402 and relocated citations for a more accurate understanding of what was meant to be communicated. Despite the rapid growth of research on mindfulness, studies on architecture are scarce.

References to the lack of mindfulness and architecture are in the original references 29,32 or 42-43 in the latest version.

Thank you very much with great respect.
Chaniporn Thampanichwat

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

I do not see in this paper any new scientific contribution to the scientific community

Reviewer 3 Report

Accept