If you’ve done much reading about workspace utilization, you probably know about seat occupancy sensors that measure how much time workers actually spend at their desks from day to day. It’s an important piece of data to use in determining whether to gravitate toward a shared desking situation. But the future is likely to offer much more sensor-derived data that covers every area of office space planning. For example, Workspace Design Magazine suggests monitoring and managing conference room use to reduce climate control costs. Making sure meetings that don’t overlap in time are scheduled in one conference room rather than in many different meeting rooms on different floors could lead to lower heating and cooling costs. The future of workspace utilization will likely focus on flexible spaces so that all areas of the office are kept hopping from nine to five (and beyond).

What areas of your office do you think are being used too little? Are you doing anything to test this notion or encourage better utilization? Let us know in the comments.