Mapping and simulation of the multidomain congruence in pre-design evaluations: a case of adaptation of health care environments of University Hospital - USP, São Paulo - SP to epidemic control conditions

Abstract

Sectors related to facility management are facing an imminent demand for organizational, procedural and physical changes due to the COVID-19 outbreak. After the urgency of fighting the pandemic and even now, the discussion of new health parameters for human care is necessary. Procedural changes and adequacy of physical conditions need to be harmonized to offer better treatment conditions. Such changes in the environment are also conditioned by the organizational structure; as the alterations are made in order to improve the performance of the activities, it is also demanded adaptations in the Built Environment. Purpose - Organizational and procedural changes resulting from new sanitary demands require the adaptation of the health environment that needs to offer operating conditions in a condition not previously observed through Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE), which makes evaluations of existing cases less effective. Alternatively, a Pre-Design Evaluation (PDE) offers conditions for anticipating possible inconsistencies relevant to the achievement of the construction, renovation and expansion of hospital environments. The research seeks to align environment, processes and organization of health care activities and manage complexity in projects such as hospital facilities through the proposition of a PDE instrument called Multi-domain Congruence Mapping and Simulation (MD-C-MS), in which the domains relate to built environment, process and organization, focusing on the former. Method/Approach - A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on PDE, Design Structure Matrix (DSM) and Multi-Domain Matrix (MDM) aims to obtain subsidies to support the proposition of MD-C-MS. The MD-C-MS corresponds to a combination of relationship matrices based in graph (mathematical theory in which only the properties of the interface between entities are considered). This matrix conjunct will be developed from the conceptual basis and the prototype presented earlier in the researcher's thesis. The operating artefact will be applied through a pilot study in the analysis of the information available in a project to adapt an emergency room of the HU-USP. The result of the MD-C-MS analysis will be confronted with the executed reality, captured through the results of a POE, in order to verify the ability to anticipate interactions between organization, process and built environment. Partially validated, it will be possible to adjust procedures so that the simulated situation corresponds more closely to the observed situation, in order to improve the instrument. Expected Results - The MD-C-MS development introduces to PDE a simulation and early analysis of the interactions between the building elements and the processes that operate throughout the life cycle of the Built Environment. Currently, these interactions are insufficiently observed due to lack of adequate instruments. Therefore, the instrument proposed offers the conditions for design teams to get greater efficiency in the development of complex built environments, such as the health buildings. (AU)