Perkins&Will recently launched a free digital resource that allows architects and designers to access key public health data to inform design decisions.
The “Public Repository to Engage Community and Enhance Design Equity,” or PRECEDE, centralizes demographic, environmental, and health data from across the U.S. into a geospatial database. The online dashboard makes it easier for designers to gain insights to create a healthier built environment.
The tool can help interior designers, architects, and urban planners answer questions like:
How does our built environment contribute to asthma and obesity?
What is the median income, proximity to traffic, or prevalence of cancer at a state, county, or census tract level in a selected location?
What strategies can design teams use to mitigate relevant public health factors?
PRECEDE underwent two years of testing and development prior to its launch. The development of the tool was funded by a Transform Grant from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Foundation. The research team is pursuing partnerships with individuals and organizations for future support and funding to expand the tool’s depth, rigor, and accessibility.
Related Stories
| Apr 12, 2011
American Institute of Architects announces Guide for Sustainable Projects
AIA Guide for Sustainable Projects to provide design and construction industries with roadmap for working on sustainable projects.
| Apr 11, 2011
Wind turbines to generate power for new UNT football stadium
The University of North Texas has received a $2 million grant from the State Energy Conservation Office to install three wind turbines that will feed the electrical grid and provide power to UNT’s new football stadium.
| Apr 8, 2011
SHW Group appoints Marjorie K. Simmons as CEO
Chairman of the Board Marjorie K. Simmons assumes CEO position, making SHW Group the only firm in the AIA Large Firm Roundtable to appoint a woman to this leadership position
| Apr 5, 2011
Zaha Hadid’s civic center design divides California city
Architect Zaha Hadid is in high demand these days, designing projects in Hong Kong, Milan, and Seoul, not to mention the London Aquatics Center, the swimming arena for the 2012 Olympics. But one of the firm’s smaller clients, the city of Elk Grove, Calif., recently conjured far different kinds of aquatic life when members of the City Council and the public chose words like “squid,” “octopus,” and “starfish” to describe the latest renderings for a proposed civic center.
| Apr 5, 2011
Are architects falling behind on BIM?
A study by the National Building Specification arm of RIBA Enterprises showed that 43% of architects and others in the industry had still not heard of BIM, let alone started using it. It also found that of the 13% of respondents who were using BIM only a third thought they would be using it for most of their projects in a year’s time.
