Foundation Grant Research Projects

Foundation Grant Research Projects

The ASID Foundation supports innovative research that articulates knowledge on how interior design impacts the human experience. The summaries provided here are the end result of research funding through the Transform Grant and the Irene Winifred Eno Grant.

Designing for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

The number of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) transitioning to adulthood is growing, and support for independent living has been instigated and focused on the creation of communities with “village” like atmospheres rather than institutions to help individuals with ASD transition from their homes more smoothly.

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Design Resources for Homelessness

Design Resources for Homelessness is an online knowledge source that brings research-informed, curated information and guidance regarding the design and construction of facilities for persons experiencing homelessness to design professionals and others.

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Developing a Standard Evidence-Based Patient Room Interior Design Checklist & Evaluation Tool

A growing body of empirical evidence indicates that well-designed built environments play a critical role in keeping patients safe and enhancing the quality of patient care. One major barrier to making research actionable is the lack of design and evaluation tools that are based on evidence, easy to use for translating research into design, and readily available to design professionals.

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Materials Research Collaborative

Chemicals released from interior finish products into the built environment can have profound impacts on human behavior ranging from reduced comfort and productivity for building occupants, to long-term genetic damage that can affect future generations. The work of the Materials Research Collaborative provides practical information and guidance on interior finish products for designers to easily navigate through the confusion that is rampant among contemporary building product certifications, and help them to discriminate between truly healthier materials and greenwash marketing claims.

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Performance Indicators of Knowledge Workplace Design Promoting Knowledge Worker Performance and Economic Competitiveness

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, innovation is a key driver of economic competitiveness as it allows knowledge workplaces to exceed growth beyond inputs by producing new or significantly improved products or services that create new values of customers or financial returns for the company with less inputs than in the traditional economy. In order to support the knowledge workplace in the innovation economy, it is important to design and manage knowledge-intensive organizations by supporting key performance indicators (KPIs) of the physical work environment that enhance the capacity of the innovative performance of the organization.

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Stand Up To Work

Stand Up to Work evaluates behavioral changes in office workers who receive adjustable workstations (AWS) that allow them to shift between standing and sitting, compared to workers with traditional desks. Using a randomized controlled trial where half the participants—Perkins+Will Atlanta employees—were randomly selected from one floor to receive Steelcase AWS and participants on other floors maintained traditional desks, questionnaires and brief real-time polling (“micropolling”) were used to track the office workers’ health and wellness behaviors.

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Developing a Cost Comparison Tool for Planning Ahead to Age in a Home

As the last of the population segment known as the Baby Boomers reaches retirement age, increased attention has been directed to the choices people make about lifestyle, about comfortable, healthy, and safe environments in which to live their lives to the fullest, and about financing those choices through an unpredictable life span. What is missing is a tool that analyzes the full spectrum of financial considerations between remaining in a home that has been designed to the standards of Universal Design and moving into a for-profit segregated facility where the household tasks of daily living are removed, personal space for artifacts is limited, and personal lifestyle is revised to group lifestyle.

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