We had the pleasure of attending the Opal Group's Campus Facilities Summit, which brings together some of the brightest minds in higher education facility management. The summit provides valuable insights into the future of campus infrastructure and strategies for handling budget constraints. It also highlights cutting-edge solutions that help colleges and universities optimize facilities.

Insights from the Campus Facilities Summit: Improving Educational Facility Capital Planning

The year's Campus Facilities Summit showcased the latest higher education facility management innovations, focusing on aging infrastructure, sustainability, and smart technology. This blog discusses key takeaways, including how to use Facility Condition Assessment (FCA) data to plan for aging buildings, integrating intelligent systems to enhance operational efficiency, and redesigning spaces to meet modern learning needs. Speakers also discussed strategies to manage rising costs and labor shortages, offering actionable insights for facility managers.

Tackling the Challenge of Aging Buildings

• Key takeaway: Leveraging FCA data enables universities to maximize limited budgets, ensuring facilities remain functional and appealing to students.

Addressing aging buildings is not a distant concern but a pressing issue that universities must manage and plan for now. Intellis CEO Steven Warshaw delivered a standout presentation on How to Use Facility Condition Assessment (FCA) Data.

He underscored how institutions can use this data to create a strategic, long-term plan for maintaining aging buildings. Warshaw's presentation highlighted how data-driven planning can help universities prioritize projects based on urgency and budget constraints while improving overall campus conditions.

The Shift Toward Sustainable and Smart Campuses

• Key takeaway: Smart technology and sustainability initiatives are crucial for creating future-proof campuses.

Find out more about events that Intellis Attends throughout the year.

Sustainability is no longer an option—it's a necessity. Many speakers highlighted the growing focus on decarbonization and the use of intelligent building systems to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact. These systems allow real-time lighting, heating, and maintenance monitoring, ensuring facilities run efficiently. This move toward sustainability is about reducing a campus's carbon footprint and appealing to environmentally conscious students.

Adapting Spaces for Modern Learning

• Key takeaway: Designing spaces that foster collaboration can significantly enhance the student experience and support new academic disciplines.

With the rapid growth of STEM programs, many universities are rethinking how they use space. The summit explored how campuses are shifting toward more flexible, collaborative environments designed to meet the needs of modern students. This trend includes transforming traditional classrooms into adaptable learning hubs encouraging teamwork, innovation, and experimentation.

Overcoming Budget and Labor Constraints

• Key takeaway: Thoughtful, data-backed planning can help universities stretch their budgets further and manage facilities more effectively.

In an economic climate where costs are rising, and labor shortages are prevalent, universities must be more strategic than ever. Summit speakers shared insights on how institutions can navigate these challenges with innovative capital planning solutions. This method involves forecasting economic trends, aligning capital investments with institutional goals, and cost management strategies, including improving stakeholder engagement and using technology to streamline facility operations.

These insights reflect a growing need for innovation and adaptability in campus facility management, balancing budget limitations with the demand for modernization and sustainability.

Intellis Campus Solutions: Optimizing Facilities Management

By leveraging Intellis Campus Solutions, institutions can gain the flexibility to support specific company practices and goals, collect and document facilities conditions assessments, gain insight into which projects to fund and which to defer, create actionable plans to keep facilities and operations in top condition and align facilities management with business goals. 

If you missed the Campus Facilities Summit 2024, now is the perfect time to explore how Intellis can help your educational institution manage its campus more efficiently. Discover our comprehensive Facility Condition Assessment and Capital Planning Solutions designed to help you streamline operations, prioritize renovations, and drive sustainability on your campus.

Intellis solutions include ranking system and component condition, deficiency location, prioritization, recommended actions, code violations, supporting photographs and sketches, and robust quality workflow management. Contact us today to learn how Intellis can transform your campus facilities!