Evidence-based design (EBD), now a popular concept in health care facilities, is a very powerful tool. When it is used to manage IAQ through use of natural ventilation in HVAC system design, we must be clear about the most important evidence on which to base the designs.
The term EBD is derived from evidence-based medicine, a movement that became well known in the 1990s when patient care began to shift from the “art of medicine” to the “science of medicine.” This shift was intended to improve patient care by having best-practice protocols, based on data (evidence) distilled from well controlled research studies, readily available to physicians when treatment plans were being made.