"No Net Increase in Space" Policy

According to plans set forth by the 2010 Illinois Climate Action Plan, the University will enact a “no net increase in space” policy for the entire campus by 2012, applicable to all space controlled by campus including auxiliary units and rental space. Continued growth of the campus has led to an increase in the University’s use of non-renewable energy sources. In order to decrease the projected increase in carbon emissions, steps must be taken to ensure that square footage is only added on necessary occasions.

As part of the “no net increase in space” policy, the Non-Instructional and Instruction Space Taskforces were created. These taskforce provided advice on non-instructional and instructional space utilization on the Urbana campus.

The goals of the Non-Instructional Space Taskforce are to develop and review policies governing the assignment of space to promote the most efficient use; prepare recommendations for policies to govern how space is assigned and used; propose an approval process for requesting new and additional space that considers the iCAP commitment; determine policies for space being used for storage of excess equipment, furniture and physical records; and review the policies of other institutions to identify practices that should be incorporated into the policy recommendations above. The committee is also looking into space management tools to allow for better transparency of space allocated to units.

The goals of the Instructional Space Taskforce are to adopt guiding principles for use of instructional space and determine standards for equipment within the instructional spaces; determine the appropriate inventory mix of instructional space and what qualifies as "instructional space; create or update an inventory and assess the use and condition of all instructional space; and create and track space utilization metrics on an annual basis.