Space Usage Data for Workspace Optimization

Building occupancy and headcounts began being systematically tracked during the early-mid 20th century, during the growth of modern office buildings and CRE management practices.

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During the 1970s and early 80s we began to see the use of building management systems (BMS) which helped record headcounts digitally.

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Within the past 20 years, we have seen an increasing shift to more granular data being collected in the office. This data is being put to different uses other than the conventional use cases like capacity management, valuations, and lease agreements – though it also significantly enhances these traditional functions.

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Office Footprints are Shrinking – Largely Attributed to The Increase of Hybrid and Remote Work

Hybrid work and remote work is increasingly feasible with the number of technologies available to support its needs, COVID has proven this. The office will not go away, people still value going to work for better communication, resources and to socialize. However, 98% of workers want to work remotely at least some of the time, a trend that reflects broader societal values around lifestyle, flexibility and work-life balance.

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Hybrid work and remote requires less office space, and as a result office footprints are shrinking. A CBRE report states this year 43% of organizations are planning to decrease their portfolio size and this is visible, Salesforces now only needs 20,000 sqm of their original 35,000 sqm lease in their Office in Sydney.

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With Smaller Footprints and Hybrid Work, Flexible Workspaces and Space Usage Data are Critical

To cope with the fluctuations in the workforce attending the office throughout the week, offices must become more flexible. By flexible we mean, the reduction of fixed “focus” or working spaces such as desks and a shift to hotdesking, activity-based workstations and meeting rooms.

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The office will increasingly function as the space for collaboration, meetings and socializing, with dedicated focuses spaces available if desired, and so the modern workspace should accommodate this.

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However, it would be an arbitrary exercise to do so without having proper visibility of how the space is used, where space usage data comes into play. Space usage data not only tracks occupancy, but also utilization tracking things like time spent, space demand, occupancy against capacity of room, activity types, and movement between spaces.

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Detailed Space Utilization Data Enhances Occupancy Tracking to Support Better Portfolio Optimization and Workplace Experience

Below are some highlight use cases within the increasing focus on “experiences” and data-led portfolio management:

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1. Predictive utilization

Predicative utilization means organizations can anticipate future space need based on historical data, allowing them to proactively plan spaces, reduce costs though activities like adjusting HVAC and lighting according to historical trends.

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2. Portfolio analytics

Traditional portfolio analytics have relied heavily on occupancy data to assess property performance; however space utilization data enhances the evaluation providing a better to picture to make informed decision around leasing, downsizing or expanding.

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3. Neighborhood optimization

Refers to the process of organizing workspaces by function or use grouping related zones to enhance collaboration and efficiency. This helps with employee and team interactions as related teams and resources can interact better.

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4. Supply vs demand

These sorts of analytics allow managers to gain an understanding of the demand for spaces and whether the supply of space is appropriate. Having an understanding that just because a room is occupied, doesn't mean the space capacity is being used efficiently, allows for better space planning.

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Future Outlook

While there is an array of sensors, Smart Building and IOT related technologies available to implement, we believe in future occupancy and space utilization tracking will be augmented with knowledge-based data and employee or management data. A key driver of this will be AI, as it will allow the automated capture and categorization of activities or indicators from those activities.

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We already see this; space usage data is increasingly being integrated with environment and energy use data.

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However, we also see potential enhancements like space usage data to be augmented with productivity data to measure the effective of spaces, or for space use and employee well-being data.

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The next period of innovation in this space will be about gaining unseen insights by identifying different types of data / information that has relationships with workspace utilization.

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