School Systems Need To Understand Actual Space Utilization

February 7th, 2012

Beaufort County Schools in North Carolina received some sobering information. A school facilities study shows that the school system overbuilt by $24 Million equaling to 2217 student seats. For Beaufort County that is 27.8% more than they actually needed.

The 2217 student seats is equal to two elementary schools and a middle school or four elementary schools. So this means in one school system there is potentially 4 schools worth of real estate that is completely unnecessary. You don’t often think of school systems as organizations that could really benefit from understanding the actual space utilization of their real estate, but if there was ever reason to feel that way this is it.

Schools can begin to understand their actual space utilization by employing solutions like occupancy detection devices and real estate business intelligence software. Along with providing utilization information to avoid overbuilding, these solutions can also help schools understand how they can reduce their energy consumption and even control energy consumption based on scheduling and occupancy of rooms.