Better informed decisions through evidence-based design

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a science review about evidence-based design. The science review investigated which aspects of the built environment have impacts upon health outcomes. This paper also presents a framework for mapping existing research as well as identifying the knowledge gaps in this field. Finally, the paper explores the development of an ICT system to support evidence-based design. Aspects of the built environment impacting health and wellbeing were identified through an extensive literature review. The review considered different types of healthcare settings as well as different levels of observation. Three workshops were organized to disseminate and validate research results. Findings demonstrate that there is considerable amount of evidence linking the built environment to health outcomes. However, the cause and effects relationships are not clear. The research also identified a gap in the area related to the implementation of evidence-based design in practice.