The current economic climate demands that higher ed campus planners get more and better use from existing space, and this session illustrates how to identify and unlock higher levels of utilization and reduce costs within current building footprints. Presenters examine a case study from Virginia Commonwealth University where space planning processes have been transformed through real-time occupancy data. They describe the pivotal advantages for informing strategy and funding decisions, supporting academic and workplace needs, capital planning, and dynamic resource allocation. They demonstrate VCU’s leveraging of occupancy data to bring transparency to space assignments, confidently reallocate underused space, inform capital requests, enhance environments, and foster innovation.