Residence Halls provide a unique educational opportunity for students, since they can learn about and experience a lifestyle that embodies sustainable practices and engages them as active participants in reducing energy use for the building. The Massachusetts State College Building Authority (MSCBA) and Bridgewater State University (BSU) took advantage of a Zero Net Energy Building (ZNEB) pilot study to research design strategies and building systems that will advance the planning and design of future residence halls.

As the area of computerized, high-fidelity medical simulation training has evolved, a new approach has developed centered on an offering of course work in interdisciplinary teams-based learning. This article compares the varied types of team-based training offered at simulation centers in educational institutions and healthcare system-based centers in order to identify how this learning style impacts the simulation spaces we design.

This article reviews Waste to Energy (WTE) technologies that are currently available and how the healthcare sector can employ these for waste management and revenue generation. The available literature is reviewed to discuss specific case studies. The case studies also explore the role of local communities in these ventures. The financing, operations and maintenance of WTE projects is the key to their feasibility. Understandably it lies outside the core business of healthcare.

Early in the development of the design for the Tinkham Veale University Center, the team determined that the west-facing glass wall of the Commons space presented challenges to the usability and conditioning of that space. The team proceeded to explore several options to control solar heat and light gain, including electrochromic glass, internal sun shading, fixed external sun shades and a double-skin wall with operable shading.

The Grady Health System Ponce de Leon Center is a comprehensive outpatient clinic for treatment of HIV and AIDS. The Center sought to improve operations and the built environment to retain and attract more patients in ongoing care at the Center. The project employed a Lean perspective to identify opportunities and improve efficiency within the clinic. Lean tools such as observational studies, spaghetti diagrams, value stream maps, and utilization analyses were used to assess the current patient flow and service within the clinic.

This issue of Perkins+Will Research Journal includes five articles that focus on different research topics, such as implementation of lean design principles for healthcare facilities, design of...

The objective of this paper is to provide some insight into how HVAC systems are changing to meet the drive towards lower energy usage. The paper is primarily focusing on trends, observed by the...

This article presents North House, an interdisciplinary, inter-institutional design research project to develop a full-scale prototype of a net-positive energy solar powered residence optimized for cold climate applications and describes the project’s performance objectives that privileged environmentally responsive envelope design, the use of hybrid passive and active energy systems and inhabitant participation in managing the home’s energy profile.

High-performance, energy-efficient buildings require a different design approach than conventional buildings. Building performance predictions, use of simulations and modeling, research-based and data-driven design process are the key elements in the design of high-performance buildings. This article discusses relationships between building performance simulations and design, as well as the role of building performance research in architectural practice.

This paper discusses current trends in research related to the design of cities, primarily focused on the relationship between regulations that are put in place to control development and the outcomes resulting from the regulations. Unlike other arenas of urban research, where the desired outcome is the health, safety and welfare of the general public, research into the impact of regulations on a population is almost nonexistent.

The Perkins+Will Research Journal is a peer-reviewed research journal dedicated to documenting and presenting practice-related research associated with buildings and their environments. This is the ninth issue, specially dedicated to documenting the outcomes of the 2nd Workshop on Architecture and Engineering of Sustainable Buildings, sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

A large community hospital with over 100,000 emergency visits annually was challenged with reducing their patient waiting times, and decided to make some critical changes to their process in order to care for their patients. The hospital was certain that the lack of space was the primary cause of the problem, as all exam rooms and the waiting areas were occupied during peak times. This study was conducted to understand the relationships between current operational practices, patient volumes and flow of patients through the different areas of the emergency department.

This article outlines the use of a Lean design process, enabled by simulation modeling, to determine the appropriate size of an emergency department based on current patient volumes and projected patient volumes in 12 years. In its most recent year, the emergency department hosted 67,000 patient visits within 34 exam rooms. Projections estimate that almost 74,000 annual patient visits within 56 exam rooms will be needed in this emergency department in 12 years. This study began with a process map of the patient flow within each acuity level.

Buildings are defined as “green” when specific measures are incorporated to provide healthier environments for their users and mitigate their negative impact on the environment. The practice of green building has caused significant changes in the construction industry, exposing architects to new legal liabilities. The objective of this paper is to investigate, identify and clarify the understanding of architects’ professional liability risks associated with the design and construction of green buildings and how to manage those risks.

This study was conducted as part of an existing facility evaluation before design of a specialized pediatric clinic in Northern Virginia. The goal of the study was to investigate the positive distraction techniques staff use for pediatric patients during medical visits, and the possible role of the built environment in supporting these techniques. Applicability of each technique for different pediatric patient age groups, ranging from infants to 19 year olds was studied. A retrospective survey method was used for data collection.