John T. Anderson argues that before you can make the most of your space, you really need to know what you have and have an accurate picture of how it is being used.

The perception of space utilization tends to be drastically different from the reality. Tracking how space actually is used puts facility planners in a position to counter unqualified requests for more space, thereby preventing unnecessary expansion. With misconceptions that often are of great magnitude, an institution might believe it needs to double its space when, in reality, it could accommodate its needs by expanding only 10 percent. In some cases, a school might find it’s even in a position to consolidate and reduce the amount of space it currently uses.

If you know what you have and how it is being used, you can repurpose/divide, make it more attractive and efficient, save staff time with automated systems, and save energy and be more green.