Is your university campus keeping up? 12 smart estate capabilities to benchmark in 2027
A checklist for Estates and Facilities leaders: twelve smart estate capabilities to benchmark your campus against, from real-time data to food delivery infrastructure.
Senior estates leaders are asking the same question: are we keeping up with other universities? This checklist sets out twelve smart estate capabilities that appear repeatedly in UK university estate strategies.
The 12-capability checklist
- Digital facilities reporting
- Real-time estate data
- Smart energy monitoring
- Occupancy analytics
- Mobile access control
- Automated parcel management
- Designated food delivery infrastructure
- Digital visitor management
- Campus-wide wayfinding
- Smart maintenance
- Student-facing campus app
- Estate ESG reporting
How to score your campus
Rate each capability as not started, piloting, partially deployed or estate-wide. Most universities will find strong progress on energy and access, and gaps in logistics — especially food delivery.
Where to start
Prioritise capabilities with clear KPIs and low disruption. Food delivery infrastructure is often a quick win: it can be deployed without capital through Foodie Locker's fully funded model, and results are measurable within weeks. Read our smart campus guide for the full picture.