Emily Chmielewski, EDAC is a founding member of Perkins Eastman’s Design Research Department, an industry forerunner of practice-based environment-behavior research. Ms. Chmielewski is an advocate for research in practice and assists clients and designers in creating better built environments by pushing the boundaries of professional knowledge and improving environmental design. In addition to conducting in-house design research, Ms. Chmielewski offers a valuable service that has resulted in multiple client-funded and grant-sponsored studies. With over sixteen years of experience, Ms. Chmielewski’s current areas of focus are senior living and K-12 educational environments. Ms. Chmielewski’s studies have ranged from concise environmental audits that gather major lessons learned to more in-depth research that evaluates multiple aspects of the physical environment and building occupants’ satisfaction and use patterns.
Ms. Chmielewski has also established a standard procedure for pre- and post-occupancy evaluation as part of Perkins Eastman’s design process. Ms. Chmielewski has presented at many conferences and been published in a peer-reviewed journal, on a national organization’s website, and within trade journals, in addition to her reports for clients and intra-office lessons learned packets. Ms. Chmielewski has won five awards for research. Ms. Chmielewski is an Evidenced-Based Design Accreditation and Certification (EDAC) certified professional, is CITI Program certified for Human Subjects Research, and has a Master of Science in Applied Research in Human-Environment Relations from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from The University of Michigan.