Departmental Floor Plans

Would you buy a new car without first researching the price, comparing features, and considering your lifestyle? Probably not. Most of us don’t have the inherent knowledge or financial resources to do this. Instead, we look to reliable resources such as Consumer Reports or Kelley’s Blue Book, and also talk with others about how they chose the car that best fit their needs. Similarly, it doesn’t make much sense to try and develop a facility master plan without a comprehensive working knowledge of the existing site and building conditions, and a firm understanding of how they are used. 

Computer-aided facility management (CAFM) systems provide the vehicle to collect and analyze facility data needed to successfully complete a master space plan. Documentation can be collected at different levels, depending on your current and future needs. For instance, departmental level documentation is a more simplistic approach, involving the identification of gross space used by each department. Accurate measurements are guaranteed through the use of AutoCAD drawings connected to a relational database.  A more detailed approach is at the room level, and can provide greater insight to the planning process. A room level analysis will identify room types, uses, attributes, finishes, standards, and occupant information.

A thorough knowledge of the facility infrastructure is a source for meaningful analysis and reporting. Up-to-date room data provides the foundation for a variety of benchmarking activities against national standards such as SCUP (Society for College and University Planning), and also state level space reporting programs such as the Ohio Board of Regent’s HEI (Higher Education Information) system.  Metrics driven from a CAFM system can help an organization understand how benchmarks such as gross square feet per bed or dining service square feet per student compares to similar institutions. Metrics that suggest inequities with national benchmarks, or statistically support perceived campus inadequacies, can influence planning direction and investment decisions. In addition to data analysis, the visual functionality of CAFM systems aids in the identification of areas for reuse or adaptation to flex space. Departmental shading helps planners to easily and quickly identify departmental dependencies for planning purposes. 

The infrastructure necessary to support the vision of the organization is a central component of an effective masterplan. Determining how the existing facilities will support the master plan requires a comprehensive knowledge of the current use of the campus. Just as a new car buyer would not make a purchase decision without the proper facts, a master plan needs the right data to arrive at meaningful conclusions. 

The in₄mation team helps organizations document the built environment to support infrastructure decision- making. A CAFM database can provide a source of information for organizational planning and design, as well as ongoing maintenance and operations activity.  The centralized database associates spatial information to maintenance activity and building components for a comprehensive understanding of facility impacts. The inventory of drawings and room data can provide the platform to visually document life safety assets and egress plans. A standard room nomenclature provides consistency for the tracking of health and safety compliance issues, ongoing condition assessment results, as well as capital project tracking and estimating. CAFM systems are also widely used as standard software solutions to track maintenance activity including unplanned repair, planned repair, preventive maintenance, and predictive maintenance.