Objectives: Multiple factors influence individuals' health status. Their impact is difficult to quantify as it is their interaction. Aim of the current work is to develop guidelines to support designers to promote health in the residential environment and to apply them through an evaluation system to certify the level of health performance.
Design: Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with the Local Health Authorities of Milan and Empoli through analysis of needs performance and numerous multidisciplinary meetings, has produced a design guide (Healthy Design Guide - HeDe) and an evaluation system to certify the level of health performance. This system was tested on the Milan metropolitan area.
Setting: The experiment was carried out on a sample of 30 private residences, with an overall floor area ranging between 90 and 150 square meters, new or recently renovated.
Results: The tool works but at the same time it also shows that too often design choices are made for aesthetic or economic reasons rather than a real need for health and wellness.
Conclusions: It is becoming increasingly important to strengthen synergies and multidisciplinary collaborations to achieve shared performance indications and to make a systematic review of the regulatory tools to protect public health.