The Four Levels of Evidence-Based Practice

Level One

• Architects at this level stay current on recent trends, especially in areas of research that deal with the relationship between the environment and the physical building. They study reviews of similar projects and use that information to formulate their design. These architects help to advance their field as they create examples based on research that improve overall design. As new environmental studies are made, building design can be adjusted and improved. This is how to keep architecture moving forward and being adaptable to the needs of the public and the concerns of project managers.

Level Two

• In level 2 evidence-based practice, architects study possible outcomes of decisions to ascertain the results. In other words, the architect figures out all the implications of his design. Architects follow a logical process from the research to the implications and on to the final measurable outcome. This helps to eliminate purely subjective ideas and allows them to come up with workable designs that are based on research. This is similar to the scientific method, where an outcome is hypothesized and then tested. At this level, the architect not only does research to find a good design idea or intervention, but then measures the results of how the design performed.

Level Three

• After utilizing levels one and two, architects at level three will publish their results. This moves valuable information away from one single architect or a team of architects. This can be done with the Internet, in trade publications or in public speeches. This step not only shares valuable information with many other architects, it also puts the data out for public scrutiny. This really puts the design to the test and helps tremendously to advance the field of architecture.

Level Four

• Practitioners at this level incorporate all the other levels. They research and follow the trends, hypothesize the expected outcomes and report on the results. They publish their information in journals or even collaborate with scholars and scientists. Any flaws in a concept will be found in this rigorous step. This step melds the world of architecture and science, but there are other sources of information out there. Valuable information can be gleaned from economics, anthropology, psychology, sociology, management and engineering. As designs change with the needs and with the research, this will enable architecture to change also, to better fit the needs of the public.