Best Saces Standard v1 * Public Comment Now Open

Step 1. Review the Standard

Download the Best Spaces Standard and review at your own pace.

Don’t have time to review the entire document? We welcome feedback on individual sections and topics. Every comment helps shape a stronger Standard.

Step 2. Submit your feedback

5-20 minutes

Complete the public comment form. The questionnaire guides your review and is completed anonymously.

Your feedback matters.

Since its initial launch in October 2024, Best Spaces has evolved through ongoing engagement with practitioners, researchers, project teams, and community stakeholders. Feedback received during this public comment period will help further strengthen the Standard before its official release.

Questions?

Standard Administrators

Best Spaces Design Institute (BSDI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to advance Experience-Driven Design by scaling Best Spaces as an approach to aligning stakeholder insights, responsive design strategies, and experiences of the completed environment. Through this work, BSDI aims to build comprehensive evidence-based data on Experience Performance in the built environment. Verification support and third-party review are provided through collaboration with North Carolina State University (NC State). This partnership is designed to ensure rigorous, transparent, and independent certification processes.

What People Are Saying about Best Spaces

“The Best Spaces Standard provided a clear and effective framework that highlights the critical role of engagement in creating spaces that genuinely serve communities. We’re excited to bring this approach to future projects, continuing to design environments that reflect and uplift diverse voices.”

— Daniel Cunningham, Principal, SWA Group

“We were thrilled to pilot the Best Spaces Standard at Norman-Sims Elementary. Engaging our community throughout the design process was a priority from the beginning. We appreciated Best Spaces as a building certification program that helped elevate our values.”

— Raechel French, PhD, Director of Planning Services, Austin Independent School District

The Best Spaces Standard helped us synthesize our approach to community-engaged design for Norman-Sims Elementary. We look forward to bringing Best Spaces to more of our projects in the future.

— Nicola Springer, AIA, LEED AP, Partner & Managing Director, pK-12 Practice, Kirksey Architecture

“We are honored to pave the way as the first Best Spaces Design Certification recipient for the Memorial at Harvey Milk Plaza. Inclusion of community voices is a key pillar of our project, and the Best Spaces Standard helped us to bolster this commitment.”

— Brian Springfield, Former Executive Director, The Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza

Start your Best Spaces Project today!