In 2008, the University of Massachusetts-Lowell (UML) occupied three campuses and 1 million assignable square feet (asf) of space in approximately 30 buildings, excluding residential. At that time, the campus enrolled 10,000 (headcount) students and 3,100 faculty and staff.

As part of the space planning projections of the master plan, an understanding of existing space, assignment, and identification of distribution across campuses was required. To determine the quantity, distribution, and types of existing space, data was derived from existing floor plans, walk-through of all non-residential campus facilities, and extensive research of organizational information for the campus as a whole.

Once completed, the updated detailed space inventory identified the building, room, ASF, National Center for Education Statistics space code/use, and the assigned organization, department, and sub-department of all spaces on the North, South, and Wannalancit Campus. The resulting detailed database allowed for analysis of organizational fragmentation across campuses.