Higher education institutions (HEIs) in both early and mature stages of sustainable development (SD) have been moving toward sustainability. Methods for assessing SD have been developed from global and regional contexts to support sustainability efforts. The purpose of this paper is to formulate guidelines as input to develop a sustainable assessment tool (SAT) for China based on the current SD stage of Chinese HEIs. Through desk research, SATs were selected and analyzed. Fifteen SATs consisting of more than 1000 indicators included in the analysis and based on components for developing SATs were identified, and then the components were selected and discussed through an online workshop engaging a 34-people Chinese research team, in order to formulate the guidelines for Chinese HEIs. The findings reveal that the emphasis of SATs mainly results from their contexts, purposes and stages, backgrounds or focus. Chinese HEIs are in the early SD stage, and the multiple purposes and components of SATs are identified to support local sustainability efforts. Having a clear understanding of the current SD stages of SATs and selecting the components accordingly would enable them to fully reach their potential in practice, especially in the case of early SD HEIs.

Utility networks (pipelines and cables) are usually modelled by lines and nodes. The systems used for maintenance of utilities are typically twodimensional, allowing for creating vertical profiles in limited key places. Since the position is visualized on 2D maps, it is rather difficult to distinguish between cables and pipelines with the same x,y coordinates. Such visualization might be misunderstood by both field workers (maintaining the utilities) and specialists. Therefore the interest in 3D visualization is rapidly increasing.Generally, visualization of lines in 3D is quite challenging. In most of the cases, the best solution is to replace the lines with tiny cylinders or other 3D shapes. However, substituting simple lines with parametric shapes in the database is time consuming, expensive and economically not justified. This paper presents an approach for utility management, according to which the pipelines and cables are still maintained as lines but while visualising in 3D, the lines are substituted with cylinders created on the fly. This paper presents the used systems architecture and developed prototype. A final discussion summarises on advantages and disadvantages of the used approach and outlines directions for further research.

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) play an increasingly significant role in the practice of sustainability. For HEIs in their early stages of sustainability, they are still in need of sustainable assessment tools (SATs) that are suitable for their local context and also lead international sustainable development. The purpose of this paper is to develop a two-hierarchy sustainability assessment tool (THSus) for Chinese higher education institutions, including a quick analysis tool (QAT) and an in-depth benchmarking tool (IBT). The QAT provided a general overview of campus sustainability for HEIs to initiate initial actions and screen cases for the IBT. The IBT then provides more targeted analysis to plan long-term strategic changes. Based on the analysis of HEI cases, a 34-person Chinese research team was enlisted to discuss and select characteristics to formulate THSus. Indicators and weightings were developed according to the tool’s purpose and applied to 15 cases to test its effectiveness. Results showed that THSus is suitable for systematically analyzing campus issues, particularly in research areas. It offers a regional solution for Chinese campuses that is adaptable and considers the comprehensive core of sustainability.

In this article, in order to have a better understanding of the current situation and supply-demand challenges with regard to the land use of educational space in primary and secondary schools in the downtown area, Tianjin and address the related problems, the comparative analysis is conducted on the land-use layout of 30 ordinary primary and secondary schools. In addition, for these primary and secondary schools, based on the information entropy, balance and dominance of land-use structure, and in conjunction with the actual conditions, spatial location and time of construction, efforts are made to analyze the diversity and balance of educational space. Generally speaking, the land-use layout of the surveyed schools falls into three types: ring-shaped with a center, linear, and group-based. Besides, thus, the main factors which exert certain influence on the pattern of spatial layout and the land-use structure of educational space in primary and secondary schools in the downtown area, Tianjin are identified by data analysis. It provides reference for the intensive use of educational space in primary and secondary schools, and lays a solid foundation for formulating a series of land-use planning and management policies targeted at primary and secondary schools.