Healthcare Design - August 2023 - 37

the center
ADVERTISERS' INDEX
VALUE PROPOSITION
It's time to quantify the relationship between
American Bath Group .......................... 9
ASI Group ....................................... 12
Carolina ............................................ 1
Center for Health Design .................... 30
Construction Specialties ................ 28, 29
EFA Conference + Expo...................... 33
Enduratex ......................................... 17
HCD Conference + Expo .................... 15
HealthPoint ...................................... 27
IIDA ................................................ 35
Kimball International ........................... C3
Kwalu ............................................. C2
La-Z-Boy Healthcare | Knú Comfort ....... C4
Moduform .......................................... 7
modularArts ...................................... 33
QuietRock by PABCO Gypsum .............. 2
Pineapple Contracts ........................... 10
Sherwin-Williams ................................ 5
Takeform Architectural Graphics ........... 16
The index to advertiser page numbers is published for
reader convenience. Every effort is made to list page
numbers correctly. The listing is not part of the advertising
contract and the publisher is not responsible for errors
or omissions.
upfront investment in capital projects and longterm
operational costs By Debra Levin
T
HE EVIDENCE-BASED DESIGN
(EBD) process has been
instrumental in enabling
architecture and design
firms, as well as healthcare
provider organizations, to
make great strides in quantifying
the return on their
design investments.
A growing legion of certified EBD practitioners
continually adds to the body of evidence supporting
the EBD value proposition-that is, that design
choices made based on proven research can
positively impact a wide range of health, wellness,
safety, and financial outcomes. While these choices
may incur additional upfront costs, those costs
are far outweighed by both near- and long-term
savings and improvements.
However, even with all of EBD's demonstrated
efficacy in producing a range of positive outcomes,
current economic uncertainties, rising
labor and materials costs, and potential downsizing
of capital budgets threaten to stall or
even reverse the progress made in utilizing EBD
practices. There will likely be added pressure to
reduce upfront project expenditures, even at the
cost of higher long-term operational costs.
Because EBD is an upfront cost, it's a tempting
target for cost-cutting efforts.
Earlier this summer, The Center for Health
Design's leadership team gathered for a few
days to consider healthcare's gathering financial
storm and explore strategies for addressing our
industry's need to better educate, measure, and
define the value of design and the roles we all
play in helping to quantify that value.
We recognized that while we have made a lot
of progress educating the industry, and building
and communicating the business case for design,
we need significantly more organizations
doing more research to support this work.
AU GUST 2023
37
Over the next few years, one of our key goals
at The Center is to increase the measurement
and sharing of building design outcomes and
expand the community of people who understand
and leverage EBD's power. And fortunately,
there's help on the horizon.
The use of technology to measure building
performance has become increasingly important
and leverages a new generation of data gathering
we've only just begun to harness.
We've seen how sensor technology has evolved
and can collect real-time and continuous data
on various building parameters. Artificial intelligence-powered
data analytics can process
large datasets and identify patterns. And virtual
replicas of physical buildings are being created
through digital twin technology, enabling testing
to optimize designs before construction or
retrofitting even begins.
In time, the goal is to quantify, at a much
larger scale, the relationship between upfront
investment in capital projects and long-term
operational costs including improved patient
outcomes, enhanced staff productivity and
satisfaction, and operational cost reduction.
Success will take many forms and rely on
many partnerships.
We believe in the power of design and the
power of quantifying design in support of overall
improved health. We look forward to working
with our healthcare design community to
ensure EBD's ongoing and enhanced role. 
Debra Levin is president and CEO of The Center
for Health Design. She can be reached at DLEVIN@
HEALTHDESIGN.ORG .
Healthcare Design - August 2023

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