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?
Email info@bestspaces.org.
Standard Administrators
Best Spaces is administered by three interdisciplinary partners committed to advancing socially responsible buildings, spaces, and communities. Best Spaces Design Institute guides the stewardship of the Standard, refining criteria, engaging advisory committees, and promoting adoption worldwide. Certification is administered independently by SEAM, Inc. — a nonprofit organization and operator of the SEAM Standard — in collaboration with third-party reviewers at North Carolina State University. This powerful collaboration ensures that Best Spaces Certification remains rigorous, transparent, and unbiased.
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
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
“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
