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The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the importance for real estate organizations to measure portfolio space in a meaningful way, allowing occupancy planners to make aggressive recommendations to reduce under utilized space within a portfolio.

This paper takes the form of an office space characteristics study of nine global occupiers in four different industries, focusing on vacancy rate, density, space usage and gross versus rentable/usable square footage.

There is a disconnect between where many corporate real estate executives think they need to be on these measurements, where they think they are, and where they truly are when metrics are based on actuals, and not on targets. Also, most US occupiers are above the BOMA international density recommendation of 225 square feet per person. Per person and per seat space occupancy is lower in Europe and especially in Asia.

The paper contains suggestions on how and what portfolio spaces to measure, as well as a base for comparing major space characteristics to corporate peers. This information is valuable for helping a corporation “right size” its portfolio in occupancy planning, and provides a meaningful way for real estate executives to demonstrate support for overall corporate objectives such as cost efficiency.

This study is possibly the first ever published detailing such a large amount of office space (almost 42 million s.f. total). It provides corporate occupiers a framework for measuring their own portfolios, and a yardstick for comparison of space characteristics to others once that has been completed.

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the merits of occupancy planning as a means for improving strategic decisions regarding real estate portfolios and strengthening the credibility of corporate real estate (CRE) professionals.

The authors' extensive experience is combined with survey results and case examples of how two global companies are benefiting from occupancy planning.

Occupancy planning programs lead to better data and forecasting, which in turn create a more accurate portfolio‐wide view and improved space utilization.

This article demonstrates the link between effective occupancy planning and sound CRE decisions.

The emergence of new markets and new opportunities means that few businesses can afford to ignore the impact of emerging markets. Consequently, these new markets are putting more pressure on corporate real estate teams to operate and plan globally. Competitive success is now seen as a function of speed to the market and this speed to market can only be met when the right facilities are made available in the right location with appropriate financial funding. This paper seeks to offer a practical approach for corporate real estate managers in the development and operation of a global centre of excellence and covers organisation structure, operational guidelines and highlights examples of successfully engaging local line management, support staff and outsourced suppliers. The development and use of virtual teams on a global basis leverages the corporations’ functional expertise to reach optimum efficiency in delivering support services. Virtual teams also provide less intrusive local oversight among very diverse emerging economies, helping to promote local ownership yet delivering best practice cognisant of local culture and sensitivities.

The purpose of this paper is to review the use of technologies for measuring space occupancy to guide the selection of appropriate tools for workplace post-occupancy evaluation (POE) studies. The authors focus on how actual space occupancy was measured in previous studies and the pros and cons of the different technologies and tools. This paper also addresses research gaps and directions for future research.

The space occupancy measures/tools are categorized based on the three types of technologies: environmental/ambient sensors, wearable sensors/smartphones and computer vision. A total of 50 studies are reviewed to identify the capabilities and limitations of these measurements.

Based on review results, the authors propose that although sensor technology can be a useful addition to the measures/tools list, a comprehensive review of the research goal, the occupants' behavior, and the environmental settings' characteristics should be conducted beforehand. Selecting appropriate technology is critical for collecting the proper behavioral data type, with a lower level of surveillance and increased validity.

This paper urges critical thinking about existing occupancy measures/tools across various fields, to inform the adoption and creation of new building occupancy measures. The knowledge of emerging sensor technology allows researchers to better study the temporal patterns of occupant behavior over extended periods and in a wide range of settings.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the lodging market and the state economy affected by Hurricane Sandy have recovered from the damages sustained. Specifically, this study examines and predicts the influence of revenue management key performance indicators (KPIs) on recovery and lodging revenue in the affected states and the states’ economies. These KPIs include average daily rate (ADR), occupancy and revenue per available room (RevPAR).

Secondary financial data were collected for the states most damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Subsequently, pooled Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression was conducted combining time and non-time dependent variables based on the states and radius from the landfall.

The results indicate that although the lodging market and the state economies have recovered since the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy, certain KPIs still need to improve.

Managerial implications are suggested in terms of dynamic pricing, market-based recovery, the KPIs, federal aid and facility management.

Despite its importance, research on the effects of climate change in the hospitality context has not actively progressed after Hurricane Katrina. Time and non-time dependent variables are combined in this analysis to gain a richer understanding of the impacts and recovery of KPIs on the revenue in the lodging market and the revenue on states’ economies. Additional analysis based on the radius from the landfall of the hurricane was performed to examine the impact and recovery based on geographical proximity.

This paper presents the process and outcomes of developing a national capability for strategic and portfolio planning within SBC Communications, Inc., a Fortune 100 company, and reviews the progress made and lessons learned since this initiative was implemented in October 2001. At this time SBC Corporate Real Estate standardised the planning approach used by its regionalised staff in order to achieve consistent business practices. This multidisciplinary effort involved process design, development of tools and templates, training and deployment, facilitation and mentoring, production of prototype plans, and ongoing coaching during implementation in 2002. The new approach, featuring scenario planning and economic modelling, has elevated planning services to an advisory level by emphasising shareholder value while satisfying business unit needs. Within the first year of implementation, the process has been fully endorsed by corporate leadership and adopted by business unit management. Refinements to the planning approach and enhancements to the methodology are being incorporated on an ongoing basis as part of a continuous improvement programme.

Over the last 15 years, many corporations have pursued systems integration to streamline operations, reduce costs and increase efficiency, resulting in enhanced competitiveness and greater profits. Has the time come for systems integration for corporate real estate? How can integration of systems support and enhance portfolio management? What are the data dependencies and relationships? What about the Internet? This atricle discusses the challenges, issues and opportunities of real estate information systems integration.

CRE value is created by efficiently aligning business and real estate strategies. The primary responsibility in today’s environment for corporate real estate executives is to understand the business that they are in, and to leverage that knowledge to make real estate strategies and decisions that support and enhance the profitability of the company. The first step in this process is gaining business knowledge through aligning real estate and business strategies and goals. This paper looks at one way of establishing an organisation that efficiently captures and utilises business information to develop value‐added real estate strategies.

Based on the operation results of Chinese hotels from 1991‐2000, this paper analyzes problems facing the Chinese lodging industry and proposes solutions. Chinese hotels’ performance, in terms of both revenue and profit, has been deteriorating since the early 1990s. While overcapacity has undoubtedly contributed to the poor performance, declining operation scale and low efficiency on the part of domestically‐owned hotels have aggravated the situation. To improve its operation results, the Chinese lodging industry should grow prudently, tap into the domestic tourist market, close the efficiency gap between domestic‐ownership and foreign‐ownership hotels and pursue economies of scale.

The independence and well-being of people with dementia can be significantly influenced by the design of the physical environments around them. Several assessment tools exist to evaluate the dementia design quality of existing residential aged care facilities but, to date, none have been formally identified as suitable for use during the design process. This paper aims to examine the feasibility of re-purposing existing post-occupancy tools for use during the design process, while mapping the influence of design stages on resulting dementia design quality.

Literature searches identified audit tools for residential aged care settings. After reliability screening, three tools were analysed in-depth, mapping their suitability for use during the design process.

The study confirmed that existing tools can be re-purposed for design stage use and identified that early design stages have a larger influence on overall dementia design quality than previously thought.

Non-English language publications were not reviewed. Searches may not have identified other existing audit tools for residential care environments.

The ability to assess proposals at key stages of design may help improve the dementia design quality of future residential aged care environments – potentially enhancing the lives of ever-larger numbers of people with dementia.

According to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first known paper to consider formal design-stage evaluation of dementia design quality and the first to identify the relative influence of key stages of design on the resulting dementia design quality.