Local authorities lack data to get a return on real estate

For cash-strapped local authorities, getting the best return on assets is fundamentally important. Sustainability is also high on their agenda. Yet very few have precise data about how much their offices are used or empty. Instead, managers rely on what they reckon to be the case. The trouble is, as Einstein pointed out, “most assumptions are wrong”.

Nor is it common to find systems in local authority buildings that monitor the whole environment from temperature to noise, light, humidity, carbon dioxide and dust levels.

Affordable technology

Which is a shame because there is affordable technology available to accurately measure occupancy and environmental parameters. Crucially, to make a business case for the modest investment involved, such a system will deliver a measurable ROI.

All this, Abintra’s David Maddison explained at a seminar for public sector managers and real estate professionals organised by Grant Thornton.

Speaking alongside Nick Moseley from the accountancy network and Laura Stamboulieh from property consultancy Montagu Evans, David put the case for deploying Abintra’s purpose-built sensors.

Unusual figures

In one example he showed data from an organisation that used barely half of its desks. Even at the busiest times, only two thirds of desks were in use. It was a similar story with meeting rooms at around 60% occupancy overall, and large meeting rooms more often than not being used for small meetings, sometimes of only two people.

And these are not unusual figures. According to David Maddison, private and public sector organisations typically waste at least a third of their space. Factor in the capital and running costs of that vacant square-footage, and it adds up to an expensive oversight.

Instead, wasted real estate can be turned into something useful by repurposing – for example by creating breakout areas, smaller meeting rooms or private booths – or monetised by downsizing. You can get strong data about that with an Abintra installation in just four weeks.

Office environment

With data from Abintra’s environmental sensors, it is also possible to see where energy is being used on heating and lighting and compare that against occupancy to identify areas that are burning money unnecessarily. The data can also be used to enhance staff wellbeing and productivity, for example by identifying areas with poor air quality.

In the audience for the seminar at Grant Thornton’s London office was Tony Booty, one of Abintra’s founders, who pioneered the idea of using sensors to measure office utilisation.

Today, Abintra has a record of successful installations at more than 100 major corporations, including Aon, TfL and the BBC, and in the public sector, local authorities such as Essex County Council, West Sussex County Council and the GLA.

Accurate data

Yet many organisations still don’t measure their real estate usage or if they do, use old-fashioned paper-based surveys or inferior technology, neither of which can deliver data accurate enough to use for confident decision-making.

Deploying the best available technology to optimise how you use your real estate ought to be a no-brainer. As David Maddison summed up: “Why reckon when you can know?”