On a landlocked urban campus, making room for growth starts with understanding the buildings already available. The University of Chicago’s Biological Sciences Division worked with OpenSensors to create a repeatable programme of occupancy studies, departmental conversations and practical workplace changes.
The programme has supported departmental consolidation, the reuse of office space and the development of shared workplaces. Its strength lies in connecting evidence to the decisions that facilities teams and academic leaders need to make.
In a CoreNet Global conversation, Steve from the University of Chicago’s Biological Sciences Division and Vu, OpenSensors’ Head of Product, explain how the programme developed and what other estate leaders can learn from it.
Listen to the Chicago / CoreNet interview on SoundCloud.
The challenge: growth within a constrained estate
The Biological Sciences Division manages approximately 20 core facilities across campus buildings, medical-centre buildings and offsite leases. BSD Facilities Services is responsible for approximately six million gross square feet on the Hyde Park campus. This describes the wider estate context, rather than the area instrumented by OpenSensors at one time.
Office allocation had traditionally followed a people-to-seats model, including private offices for faculty. Yet staff and faculty might be teaching, treating patients, working elsewhere on campus or working from home. Visible empty space suggested an opportunity, but it did not provide enough evidence to agree changes.
Departments also wanted to protect capacity for future recruits. The facilities team needed to understand actual use and develop options that supported those departments’ work.
Making evidence part of investment decisions
Support from the dean gave the programme a clear mandate. Departments seeking space or capital improvements were asked to take part in an occupancy study before planning proceeded. This connected measurement to a real decision and gave departments a reason to engage.
Transparency was equally important. The team explained in advance what was being measured and why, making clear that the study concerned use of space rather than individual performance. Departments received their own data and could question the findings before discussing changes.
That approach helped change the relationship. Steve describes departments moving from protecting every office towards identifying unused areas and helping find solutions.
A reusable sensor pool and rolling studies
By October 2026, OpenSensors had supported Chicago’s Biological Sciences Division and Medicine for approximately three years. Across those programmes, a reusable pool of approximately 2,500 sensors moves between departments and buildings through repeated studies. The rolling programme had reached phase 11, with repeated departmental studies over the previous two years.
Each phase includes deployment, commissioning, sensor-to-room mapping, measurement and review before equipment moves to the next location. Earlier readings remain linked to the space they measured. The BSD programme has studied more than 30 departments or sections; new studies can proceed while earlier decisions are implemented.
The work helped shape OpenSensors’ Measure, Model, Transform framework: establish the evidence, compare viable options, then put changes into practice. The model keeps attention on the next decision and the evidence it needs.
Starting conversations earlier
Chicago found that patterns in the studies it examined often became stable after around 40–45 days. That gave the team confidence to begin some planning conversations while measurement continued.
Steve makes an important distinction in the interview: the programme was retaining its formal three-month studies. The earlier review point helped reduce delays between measurement and planning; it was not a universal rule that every workplace can be assessed in 45 days.
Turning the findings into practical changes
The evidence supported different decisions for different departments. Anaesthesia had approximately 105 offices with average occupancy around 20%; Pathology had approximately 55 offices with average occupancy around 40–60%. Following three-month studies and departmental discussions, Anaesthesia relinquished approximately half its offices and converted the remainder to hoteling. Pathology remained largely unchanged.
One study supported a building lease exit that saved over US$700,000 in the first year. The result reflects a specific lease decision, rather than a forecast or a saving guaranteed for other estates.
Chicago uses Orbit for booking in its Physician Hub and PhD spaces, with Observe providing measured-use data. The Physician Hub serves a community of up to 500 people. Booking and sensing support efficient use of busy shared spaces; the community size is not a claim that 500 people occupy the hub simultaneously.
The programme includes approximately 100 meeting-room counters reused between studies. Room-size and attendance evidence helps the team consider smaller settings for calls and focused work while retaining rooms needed for larger gatherings. Chicago also imports OpenSensors data through the API into its own data store daily, supporting independent analysis alongside Observe.
The result is a more specific discussion about which spaces people need, how they use them and what can be changed.
Consolidation that supports the work
The aim was to give departments the resources they needed while reducing unnecessary demands for additional space. Reusing existing offices can help an urban university accommodate growth and avoid some future construction expenditure.
Implementation still takes work. Departmental leaders have to agree changes, people need suitable alternatives, and some areas require refurbishment. Chicago’s approach combines occupancy evidence with leadership support, departmental benefits and a consistent process for reviewing space.
The team was also preparing to remeasure a consolidated department, so it could examine how the new arrangement performed. That closes the loop between the original evidence, the decision and its effect.
Hear the customer conversation
The interview explores executive sponsorship, rotating studies, departmental engagement and the decisions that follow measurement.
CoreNet Global’s What’s Next Podcast — University of Chicago and OpenSensors
If you are weighing up consolidation, growth or a change to your workplace, start with the decision in front of you. OpenSensors can help establish where evidence is missing, measure the relevant spaces and explore the options with the people who need to act.
Explore the MMT framework or talk to us about a workplace decision.