This report introduces the POLIS methodology and Decision Support System for Universal Building Design. It sets it within the context of access audit and action planning. POLIS is an assessment tool that has been developed through research, and the report is intended to highlight its potential. Access evaluation through POLIS is, like all building modelling methods, reliant on the application of good practice in management and maintenance of the building. Case studies on buildings in Spain, UK, Italy, Greece and Israel demonstrate how the methodology can be used to apply quantitative criteria to many aspects of accessibility in and around buildings.
The project was funded by the European Commission, and has involved experts from eight countries, as well as the participation of many other specialists in a series of conferences and workshops which were organised to bring forward new ideas and share experience.

Features / Benefits
Sets out the key features of the POLIS approach to universal design of buildings
Based on expert input from European experts
Five case studies from Spain, UK, Italy, Greece and Israel illustrate the technique

Readership
Access and disability consultants, building owners, architects, planners

Contents

1 The POLIS project
 2 Glossary of POLIS terms
 3 The POLIS methodology
 4 Access auditing
 5 Building and urban space access auditing
 6 Approaches to access auditing
 - Checklists
 - Checklist limitations
 7 Key points of the POLIS approach
 8 The six steps to apply POLIS
 - 1 Selecting the building services and their relevance
 - 2 Selecting the service paths and alternative service ways
 - 3 Calculating the accessibility of service path or end service point elements
 - 4 Calculating the accessibility of service path from the accessibility of all underlying ways
 - 5 Looking into the nature of the services. Equivalent and non-equivalent services
 - 6 Calculating the accessibility of our building
 9 What is the real value of this building metric?
 10 Costs and benefits of accessibility
 11 Conclusions
 Case studies
 1 Edificio de la Naviera Aznar, Bilbao, Spain
 2 Conference centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, UK
 3 School of Applied Technology, Technology Institute of Crete, Greece
 4 Multi-purpose research center, Italian National Research Council, Rome, Italy
5 Diaspora Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel