University of Iowa- Space Model Development

Project Description

The University of Iowa is the oldest institution of higher education in the state of Iowa, widely recognized for its public research activities, health care programs, law and fine arts. The University operates through its 11 colleges and spread over 1800 acres of campus space.

Project Objectives

ePATHUSA worked with the University to assist the campus space planning process by designing and developing a Space modeling system. The University of Iowa’s Facilities Management Department, together with the Space Planning committee sought to create a process that allows all Organizational Units and the underlying Departments, to be proactively involved in the Campus Space planning process to address and to plan for the Campus Space needs as one entity. The Organizational Units have numerous short-term and long-term space needs to accommodate various aspects of their daily operations such as the need for more classrooms, service rooms, space for special events etc.

Detail Description

The Space Modeling System provided ability for responsible personnel from all of the Departments in the University to enter their current (or future) day-to-day operating variables into the modeling tool, such as student counts, course hours and times, housing needs etc. The modeling tool then uses complex formulae to determine the overall campus space needed for the specific Department in terms of classrooms, service spaces, dining spaces etc., as well as to the University such as parking, walking space etc.

The tool helps highlight dependencies of Campus Space needs across different Departments based on variables entered by a specific Department. The tool also highlights any shortcomings of the space currently allocated to the Department or help plan for space for the upcoming years. The modeling tool also integrated with several data sources and help provide insightful interactive reports using PowerBI.