Space, similar to other commodities, has a value associated with it. This value depends on the perspective of the valuer, thus it could be valued in exchange or it could be valued in use. This paper will look at the value in the use of space, and argue that this value is derived from the functional utility of space.

For space to be functionally useful, it is required to be of sufficient quantity and appropriate quality for that use. Whilst this may appear to be subjective, for the purposes of this paper, appropriate quality is defined as space containing the optimum facilities for the proposed function.

Facilities associated with space can be both physical and environmental: physical facilities are those such as heating, lighting and ventilation, medical gas, structural considerations; environmental facilities are those that affect the users perception of the space.

This paper describes work undertaken as part of the University of the West of England's Healthcare FM project investigating the physical facilities and their relation to functional utility. It is intended to publish the work being undertaken on the environmental facilities in a future paper.