The Living Facility
Innovation in custodial and facility services: buildings that report what they need, and a plan that changes every day.
A Living Facility is a building run on its own real-time data. Sensor technology reports how each space is actually used and what it needs; dynamic scheduling turns that data into each night's work plan; autonomous equipment and AI-assisted quality control carry it out; and Facility Hub Live, CSS's proprietary system, monitors every piece of that data and shows everyone the results live. On a college or university campus, Contract Service Solutions calls it a Living Campus.
Static Schedule vs. Living Facility
| Static schedule | Living Facility | |
|---|---|---|
| What sets the work | A route written once, often years ago | What each space actually needed today |
| How problems surface | A complaint, after the fact | A sensor alert, before anyone notices |
| Service levels | One level applied everywhere | APPA levels set by space type and real use |
| Proof of work | A signed checklist | Scored inspections, trip reports, live dashboards |
| Who sees the results | The contractor, eventually | Client and contractor, on the same screen |
How a Living Facility Works
1. The senses: sensor technology
Door counters track real traffic; dispensers report their own levels; occupancy sensors show which rooms were used and which sat empty. They are counters, not cameras, and they never touch the building's network.
2. The plan: dynamic scheduling
The day tells the night what to do. Each evening's work plan is built from that day's data: the building that hosted a 300-person event gets the full crew, the one that sat quiet gets a light pass. A static schedule cleans by habit; a dynamic schedule cleans by need.
3. The muscle: autonomous equipment
Autonomous floor scrubbers and sweepers run long corridors with validated trip reports, so the custodial team spends its hours on the detail work people notice. The machines don't replace your people; they multiply what the team can do.
4. The brain: Facility Hub Live
Facility Hub Live is CSS's proprietary system. It connects the sensors, the schedule, the inspections, and the work orders, and it monitors all of that real-time data in one place: live quality scores, sensor alerts, and response times, visible to the client and to CSS on the same screen.
What Changes for You
- Problems get fixed before the complaint. The restroom that ran out of towels raises its hand, and the nearest custodian is already on the way.
- Hours go where they matter. Service shifts from empty space to the spaces that took the day's traffic, within the same budget.
- Cleanliness is measured, not argued. APPA levels are set by space type and verified with scored inspections and hard metrics.
- Your team sees what ours sees. No waiting for a monthly report.
Watch the Series
The Living Campus is CSS's short video series on where facilities are heading: sensors, live data, dynamic scheduling, and AI that actually works. It starts here:
Episode 1 · 8 min · Every released episode, with full transcripts
Where it is used: colleges and universities and federal, state, and local government facilities.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Living Facility?
A building run on its own real-time data: sensors report how each space is used and what it needs, dynamic scheduling turns that data into each night's plan, autonomous equipment and AI-assisted quality control carry it out, and Facility Hub Live shows the results live. On a campus, CSS calls it a Living Campus.
What is dynamic scheduling in custodial services?
Building each night's custodial work plan from that day's usage data instead of a fixed route, so crews go where the traffic was. A static schedule cleans by habit; a dynamic schedule cleans by need.
Do the sensors use cameras?
No. They are counters, not cameras: door counters, dispenser levels, and occupancy sensors. They also never touch the building's network.
What is Facility Hub Live?
Facility Hub Live is Contract Service Solutions' proprietary system for running a Living Facility. It monitors all of the real-time data, including quality scores, sensor alerts, and response times, and shows it to the client and to CSS on the same screen.
Does a Living Facility replace custodians?
No. The technology puts the same team's hours where the building needs them and takes the long, repetitive runs off their hands. It doesn't replace your workforce; it multiplies what they can do.
Keep Reading
Find out what your buildings would tell you
Talk to CSS about turning your facility into a Living Facility.
Start the Conversation Watch the Living Campus Series