Design for a Healthy Environment and People.

Sustainable Design

“Human beings don’t have a pollution problem; they have a design problem. If humans were to devise products, tools, furniture, homes, factories, and cities more intelligently from the start, they wouldn’t even need to think in terms of waste, or contamination, or scarcity. Good design would allow for abundance, endless reuse, and pleasure.” 

– The Upcycle by authors Michael Braungart and William McDonough, 2013.

design excellence

Green Design

Sustainable design is associated with green design. Currently there are many designations of sustainable design including LEED.

Design for Health and Wellness

Good design is also known as user centred design. Design which fits and responds to the users' needs and contributes to health and wellness.

Universal Design

Design should also be inclusive. Universal design incorporates knowledge from human factors / ergonomics, health and wellness, and functional diversity to assist designers with including all people in the design outcome.

Green Design

LEED

LEED®, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most widely-used green building rating system in the world, available for virtually all building, community, and home-project types. WELL is designed to work harmoniously with LEED and other international leading green building systems.

The Canada Green Building Council

The Canada Green Building Council is a not-for-profit, national organization that has been working since 2002 to advance green building and sustainable community development practices in Canada. The CaGBC is the Canadian license holder for the LEED green building rating system and supports the WELL Building Standard in Canada.

Design for Health and Wellness

WELL BUILDING STANDARD

WELL is a performance-based system for measuring, certifying and monitoring features of the built environment that impact human health and well-being, through air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind. It marries best practices in design and construction with evidence-based medical and scientific research – harnessing the built environment as a vehicle to support human health and wellbeing.

Universal Design

Principles of Universal Design​

Principle One: Equitable Use Principle Two: Flexibility in Use Principle Three: Simple and Intuitive Use Principle Four: Perceptible Information Principle Five: Tolerance for Error Principle Six: Low Physical Effort Principle Seven: Size and Space for Approach and Use​

Goals of Universal Design

Body Fit Comfort Awareness Understanding Wellness Social integration Personalization Cultural appropriateness

picture of the 5 sustainable development goals which are Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Reduced Inequality, Sustainable Cities and Communities
Universal Design and Sustainable Development Goals

Universal Design achieves these 5 SDGs: Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Reduced Inequality, Sustainable Cities and Communities

“If it is true that the Mind can transform the body, it is equally true that structure can transform the mind.” 

– Walter Gropius founder of the Bauhaus.