DLR Group is committed to investing in R&D programs focused on technology, process improvement, and evidence-based design, and dedicates time and resources annually for employee-owners to produce primary and secondary research and publications. Exhibitions, media, and design projects also fall under the purview of the firm’s R&D grants, and we prioritize sharing knowledge gleaned from our studies through publications and communications.
As a firm, we recognize that in-house research benefits not only our employee-owners, but also our clients. Research proposals selected each year are those that foster the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture, engineering, planning, and interior design. Any idea accepted in our R&D program must contribute meaningful perspectives to design culture, the built environment, and greater society.
One of our 2017 R&D grant winners is Healthy Space, a research project from Building Performance Analyst Shona O’Dea and Architect Michael Vander Ploeg. Healthy Space will capture real indoor air quality (IAQ) data points to quantify the healthiness of the air we breathe, and qualify how we think about workplace productivity. Across more than 20 of DLR Group’s offices around the world, O’Dea and Vander Ploeg will track temperature; relative humidity; CO2; PM2.5, an atmospheric particulate with a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers, and TVOCs, a wide range of organic chemical compounds, of the air in our offices in real time. Based on our research, this is the most comprehensive data set informing IAQ in our industry.
