2014 Fifth International Conference on Intelligent Systems Design and Engineering Applications

Water-Saving Campus Park and Garden Construction of Tsinghua University

Based on GIS
Pan Jiangqiong, Sun Mengnan
Garden and Park Department of Repairing Center of Tsinghua University, Green University Office of Tsinghua
University, Beijing City 100084

Abstract: Directing at our country’s current situation of water campus landscaping, the greening water consumption is
resources shortage, this article sets forth the necessity and also on the increase. Therefore, it is necessary to change the
urgency for developing a water-saving campus park and water utilization model and construct the water-saving
garden. And in terms of water-saving irrigation technique, campus park to further develop the gardening and
utilization of natural rainfall, reclamation of recycled water,
application of water saving plants, optimization of plant
afforestation of the campus. This article will introduce the
furnishing, reinforce of maintenance management etc, the experience of Tsinghua University for the water-saving park
article sums up the water-saving measures adopted by and garden construction and put forward discovered related
Tsinghua University for the construction of the water-saving issues.
campus park and garden and puts forward the present
existing problems in the construction of the water-saving II. CONCRETE MEASURES FOR WATER-SAVING CAMPUS
campus park and garden. PARK AND GARDEN CONSTRUCTION

Key words: Tsinghua University; Water-saving; Campus A. Application of Water-saving Irrigation Techniques
park and garden; Drought-enduring plant;Irrigation system As the relatively mature water-saving irrigation
techniques, sprinkling irrigation, micro-spraying and trickle
I. INTRODUCTION irrigation have been widely used at home and abroad.
In recent years, because of global warming, rainfall Sprinkling irrigation and micro-spraying are to spray in due
reduction, accretion of population, rapid development of time and defined amount according to plant varieties and
social economy, sharp increase of total water use, soil and climate conditions to avoid surface runoff and deep
unreasonable exploitation and utilization of water resources percolation. In general, compared with surface irrigation,
etc, the phenomenon of freshwater shortage appears and in sprinkling irrigation and micro-spraying can save water by
individual areas, the condition is worse. The water resources 30%~50% [2]and the watering can be even. Also, these
problem is an environmental problem which has troubled techniques can improve the surrounding air quality, save
mankind for ages. Till 2004, among more than 600 cities of labor and improve the working efficiency.
the whole country, there are over 400 cities which have a Tsinghua University makes significant use of
scant supply of water and 110 cities which are in severe reasonable water-saving irrigation techniques in the campus
water shortage. The total annual water shortage of the whole greenbelt, thereby realizing multiple effects of saving water
country is 6 billion cubic meters and the daily water deficit resources, improving landscaping efficiency, improving the
reaches to 13 million cubic meters. The water resources environment, etc. At present, Tsinghua University has
situation is extremely severe. As the only system with self- installed IC card water meters in most landscaping wells of
cleaning capacity, landscape architecture plays an important the campus; installed sprinkling irrigation systems on the
role in improving the environment quality, maintaining the lawns around the H-shaped hall, in front of the main
urban ecological balance, beautifying the urban landscape, building, in front of the auditorium and at the north yard,
etc. however, the construction of landscape environment college of science, etc; installed micro-spraying system at
cannot continue without water. Therefore, under the current the hillside greenbelt of more than 55,285 square meters
condition of general water shortage, how to utilize irrigation around the H-shaped hall, Guyuetang, Jiasuo, Barren Island,
water reasonably and sufficiently, thereby improving the etc. The aim of water-saving is realized, as shown in Figure
garden greens irrigation utilization rate and irrigation effect 1.
and leading the campus landscaping to the sustainable and Simultaneously, the water-saving irrigation technique
healthy development road, is a problem to be solved in need is adopted, thereby reducing the workload of manual
in the development process of China’s colleges and irrigation and saving the human cost; better visual effect is
universities. To develop the water-saving landscape is formed, thereby further improving the campus landscape
imperative. and bringing good comprehensive benefits.
The green area of the campus of Tsinghua University
is 1,358,400 square meters and the green coverage rate
reaches to 54%. With the continuous development of the

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 general water permeable pavement is lower than that of the
traditional asphalt or cement pavement, the general water
permeable pavement is applied to sidewalks, parking lots,
squares and lanes with small traffic flow. During 2006-2008,
water permeable pavements are generally adopted on
sidewalks, parking lots and squares in the campus of
Tsinghua University. For example, water permeable Sue
Brock tiles are adopted on sidewalks of East-west main road,
South-north main road, Tenth dining hall at the northwest
door, etc. And water permeable lawn bricks are adopted at
parking lots of south building community, southwest
building community, west building community and
Academy of Fine Arts, as shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4.
Perfect ecological effect is achieved.

Figure 1. Sprinkling Irrigation and Micro-spraying Systems of Tsinghua

University

B. Utilization of Natural Rainfall

The development level of surface water in Beijing city
has reached to 90% above, [3]but rainwater is also the largest
water source ranking only second to surface water.
However, the current use ratio of rainwater is obviously low.
During the park and garden construction, following
methods can be used for utilizing natural rainfall: (1)
qualified units can construct rainwater storage project for
supplying water to their own landscaping; (2) many
methods such as adopting various water permeable bricks
and bricks constructed with holes at pedestrian pavements Figure 2. Water Permeable Paving of Tsinghua University
and making the greenbelt lawns lower than the relative
height of the pavements are adopted to effectively collect
rainfall and reduce surface runoff for the greenbelt irrigation C. Reclamation of Recycled Water
and supplementing underground water. Water is a kind of limited irreplaceable resource. But it
In order to collect and utilize rainwater more is also a kind of reproducible and reusable resource.
effectively, Tsinghua University built a rainwater reservoir Recycled water is also a kind of valuable water resource. In
with the total water storage reaching to 1,000 cube meters. order to make the best of water resource, Tsinghua
According to statistics, the reservoir in the last two years University constructed a recycled water recycling and
stored 11, 000 cube meters of water every year. It means the processing station in Zijing student apartment area to
same amount of fresh water resource has been saved. produce reclaimed water, as shown in Figure 3. The
Water permeable paving refers to manual paving of recycled water station can daily process 1,200 tons of
porous pavement which can lead rainwater to directly sewage water, part of which is used for campus landscaping
permeate the roadbed via the pavement and the water is irrigation. At present, two third of the campus greenbelt
restored through the underground paving. The water adopts recycled water for irrigation, which greatly saves the
permeable paving not only can lead rain and snow water to water resource.
permeate the ground rapidly to implement the underground
water and improve the underground water level but also
improve the water permeability and air permeability,
thereby improving the plant growing environment and
adjusting the ecosystem balance. Because the strength of the

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 Forsythia viridissima, Fontanesia fortunei Carr, Lycium
chinense, Viburnum betulifolium, weigela florida, Hibiscus
syriacus, Lagerstroemia indica, tamarix chinensis, Cornus
officinalis, Hippophae rhamnoides and Cotinus coggygria.
There are 19,685 drought-enduring shrub trees in the
campus, which account 45.6% of the total shrub trees of the
whole university.
3) Ground covers
Ophiopogon japonicas, Buchloe dactyloides, Dianthus
chinensis, white clover, alfalfa, Crassulaceae,
Orychophragmus violaceus, Philippine Violet Herb and
Figure 3. Recycled Water Station of Tsinghua Zijing Apartment: Daily
Processing Capacity 1,200 tons local wild weeds.
The water-saving ground cover plants in the campus
totally cover 953,000 square meters, which account 74% of
D. Application of Water-saving Plants the green area of the whole university.
To select reasonable landscape plant categories is an
important content for developing water-saving garden.
Tsinghua University pays full attention to the approach in
the campus green space construction and the water-saving
target is achieved. The water-saving plants in Tsinghua
campus are used in arbor, shrub and flowers. Tsinghua also
consciously select drought-enduring plants in the landscape
construction, such as crassulaceae plant, lycium barbarum,
hippophae rhamnoides, elaeagnus angustifolia, etc. At the
same time, Tsinghua adjusts measures to local conditions,
lay emphasis on the development and application of native
tree species and applies a large number of drought-enduring Water-saving shrub-Lycium barbarum
plants such as vervain family, lespedeza, etc. During the
plant planning, the configuration ratio of cool-season lawn
with large water consumption is strictly controlled. In recent
years, Tsinghua has also paid attention to the development
and utilization of water-saving ground covers. For example,
orychophragmus violaceus, ophiopogon japonicas, white
clover, Dianthus plumarius, local wild weeds, and so on, as
shown in Figure 4.
Recently, drought-enduring species in the landscape
plants adopted by Tsinghua University are as follows:
1) Arbor tree
Platycladus orientalis, Sabina chinensis, Sabina
Water-saving flowers-Dianthus chinensis
shinensis, juniperus formosana, Chinese pine, white bark
pine, Pterocarya stenoptera, saliz matsudana, Quercus
variabilis, elm, magnolia soulangeana soul, silk tree, robinia
pseudoacacia, pistacia chinensis bunge, rhus chinensis,
jujube, Chinese parasol, kalopanax septemlobus,
persimmon tree, diospyros lotus, Chionanthus retusus,
Chinese ash, koelrueteria paniculata and paper mulberry.
There are 19,738 drought-enduring arbor trees in the
campus, which account 46.7% of the total arbor trees of the
whole university.
2) Shrub
Procumbent juniper, Sabina vulgaris, Cotoneaster
Water-saving ground cover plant white clover
horizontalis, Cotoneaster multiflorus, Pyracantha
crenatoserrata, elaeagnus pungens, Buddleja lindleyana,
pomegranate, Chimonanthus praecox, Berberis thunbergii,
Deutzia scabra, pearlbush, Chaenomeles lagenaria, Chinese
redbud, Lespedeza, amorpha fruticosa, Forsythia suspense,

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 arbor and shrub as the main body and multi-layer structure
of plant community as the leading structure, the campus
landscaping lays emphasis on ecological benefits to avoid
increasing green quantity by constructing large area of lawn,
thereby lowering the total water consumption for the
campus landscaping. The due landscape value and
ecological benefits can be achieved and the management
expense can be reduced.
In the campus landscape construction, Tsinghua
University pays special attention to the configuration
Alfalfa landscape
optimization of landscape plants and takes the multi-layer
structure of plant community as the leading structure to
increase the green quantity and the ecological benefits. In
the campus, there are 45,000 arbor trees, 45,000 shrub trees
and 140,000 other trees and 8,680 square meters of bamboo,
29,227 square meters of hedgerow color blocks, 2,357
square meters of perennial flowers, 330,000 square meters
of cool-season lawn and 953,000 square meters of other
ground cover plants. It can be seen from the above
statistical data that in the campus landscape planting,
Tsinghua University takes trees as the principal thing and
compound stereoscopic ecological community consisting of
arbor, shrub and ground cover plants as the main part for
Campus Orychophragmus violaceus landscape
plant landscaping, thereby improving the plant growing
environment, reducing the surface runoff and reducing
irrigation.
F. To Improve Landscaping Maintenance Management and
Water-saving Consciousness of Employees
In the campus daily landscaping maintenance
management, the water consumption for landscaping is
reasonably reduced by the reinforcement of landscaping
maintenance management. It mainly includes management
and protection measures of loosening the soil and hoeing
regularly, pruning, ridging and using water-retaining agent,
Campus local wild weeds ground cover landscape reducing the transpiration of plant water and reducing the
greenbelt irrigation times; simultaneously the water-saving
Figure 4. Drought-enduring Plants in the Campus of Tsinghua University propagation is strengthened, the green maintenance work is
standardized and the water-saving consciousness of all
E. By Plant Optimal Configuration employees is improved.
During the application of drought-enduring plants to III. EXISTING PROBLEMS IN CONSTRUCTION OF WATER-
realize water conservation and high efficiency, the plant SAVING CAMPUS LANDSCAPE
optimal configuration is also a problem which cannot be
ignored. With arbor and shrub as the main body and multi- A. Lack of Quantized Plant Water Requirement
layer structure of plant community as the leading structure, Although the water-saving irrigation technique has
the campus landscaping lays emphasis on green quantity been widely used in the park and garden construction of
and ecological benefits. Studies have found that the water Tsinghua University, it is still blank in water requirement
consumption of arbor and shrub is far lower than lawn, but studies of plant which lack precise irrigation norm and data
the ecological benefits are much higher than lawn. The about the plant water requirement. Most cities of USA have
ecological benefits generating from 10m2 of trees are equal exact data for common landscape plants about when, where
to 50m2 of well-grown lawn. Although lawns can obtain and under what kind of climate conditions to require how
better visual effect, it is necessary to irrigate lawns much irrigation water. These data are the basis for
frequently. Every square meter of lawn has to be watered formulating the whole landscape water-saving scheme.
once every week, and the annual water consumption reaches [5]
While in Tsinghua campus, there have been no studies on
to 1.2t. The annual maintenance and management expense the water requirement of landscape plant and also there are
of unit area of lawn is 5-10 times of trees. [4]Therefore, with

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 few studies in this connection in our country. No dada concern in the community. Tsinghua University has
information can be referred to. Therefore, employees explored application of water-saving irrigation technique,
irrigate landscape plants for daily management maintenance utilization of natural rainfall, reclamation of recycled water,
only by their experience even their feeling. Good application of water-saving plants, plant optimal
landscaping effect for lawns and trees cannot be obtained configuration and reinforcement of landscaping
because of untimely, uneven and insufficient irrigation or maintenance and management and obtained some
excessive irrigation and the water-saving irrigation in its experience together with some existing problems. Through
true sense cannot be realized either. this article, we hope that on the basis of actively promoting
effective water-saving irrigation experience at home and
B. Lack of Automatic Control System for Irrigation System
abroad and strengthening the landscape water-saving
The automatic irrigation technique is used by measures, campus landscape workers can closely rely on
landscape architecture mainly for improving the utilization scientific and technological progress, actively develop
efficiency of greenbelt irrigation water. And at present, the water-saving technical research, constantly break through
original ground flooding, manual watering or waterwheel landscape water resource utilization limit and widely apply
irrigation for the campus landscape architecture irrigation of obtained achievements to the landscaping management.
Tsinghua University has been replaced by manual control
irrigation system. However, there is still no automatic REFERENCES
irrigation control system. The manual control irrigation [1] Li Haitao,“Study on Landscape Development Countermeasures
system has disadvantages of much subjectivity and of water saving,” Annual Meeting Proceedings of China Association
for Science and Technology, 2007.(in Chinese)
inaccurate control of irrigation amount and irrigation time.
[2] He Fang,“Application of water saving technology in Landscape
So a large amount of irrigation water is lost due to deep Architecture,”China Flower Press, 27.12.2007. (in Chinese)
leakage or invalid evaporation, resulting in the waste of [3] LiuHonglu,YangPeiling,PanWeiguo,“Present development status and
water resource. Over-irrigation, imbalance pressure and prospect on farmland irrigation of Beijing City. ” (in Chinese)
unreasonable operation time all affect the effect of [4] Yang Lijuan, Wang Hai, Application of drought-enduring plants
landscape architecture irrigation and lower the utilization in water-saving Landscape[J]. Southern agriculture, 2007. 㧔 6 㧕 㧦
rate of irrigation water. Therefore, in the construction of 52- 53.
water-saving campus landscape, we should combine [5] Pu Yongji,Liu Min,Zha Yuguo,Liu Renying, Research on Problems
and Countermeasures in water-saving Landscape[J]. modern garden,
campus transformation and try to use intelligent and precise 2007(2)㧦28- 32.
automatic control irrigation technique in the new
constructed landscape. The automatic control irrigation
system can select different irrigation methods and various
irrigation amounts according to water need characters of
phytocenosis to realize irrigation in due time and defined
amount, which is beneficial to the full utilization of water
resource and the campus sustainable development.
C. Weak Water-saving Concept of Management and
Maintenance Staff
Although the management department has
propagandized much, there are not enough effective water-
saving plans and measures in the late maintenance
management process. The scientific water-saving sense of
the grass-roots employees is not strong. Therefore, we
should further strengthen the publicity force and improve
the water-saving sense of the employees before everything
to interiorize the concept of developing water-saving
campus.
IV. EPILOGUES
With the continuous development of university
campuses in our country, the campus landscape
construction will certainly be developed more rapidly. How
to economize water resource, develop water-saving campus
landscape actively and thus preferably develop landscape
benefit and ecological benefit of campus landscape to
realize campus sustainable development has aroused great

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