How to Use ArcGIS for Smart Campus Planning and Management

August 7, 2024

Shahram Sattar

In today’s dynamic educational landscape, colleges and universities face the challenge of managing sprawling campuses efficiently while providing a safe and enriching environment for students and staff. This post highlights examples of how higher education institutions are using ArcGIS Enterprise along with other Esri products to streamline operations, enhance safety, and foster collaborative environments.

ArcGIS Enterprise is a comprehensive GIS platform, available both on-premises and in the cloud, that provides robust tools for spatial analysis, data management, and 2D and 3D visualization. It has emerged as a powerful tool for smart campus planning and management. By integrating diverse datasets, including BIM and CAD, ArcGIS Enterprise creates a Digital Twin of the campus—a unified system that facilitates informed decision-making, improves collaboration among stakeholders, and supports efficient management of campus assets and environments. Additionally, the ability to store all information in a centralized, secure platform ensures data consistency, accessibility, and reliability, ultimately driving smarter campus operations and sustainability initiatives.

ArcGIS Enterprise consists of several key components that can be deployed either on-premises, giving institutions full control over their data and infrastructure, or in the cloud, providing scalability and flexibility. These different deployment options allow higher education institutions to tailor their GIS infrastructure to meet specific needs and security requirements, ensure seamless integration with other campus management systems and foster a collaborative, data-driven environment for efficient campus operations. To learn more about ArcGIS Enterprise and all its components you can read this blog post.

ArcGIS Online, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) hosted and managed by Esri, offers cloud-based ready-to-use GIS services and apps that are comparable to ArcGIS Enterprise services but differ in several ways. Additionally, ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online can be used together by implementing a distributed collaboration that allows users to share layers, maps, and other data between systems. This approach makes data more accessible across an entire organization and enables workflows such as managing data in ArcGIS Enterprise and sharing it with the public through ArcGIS Online.

Watch the video below to see examples of smart campus management in action. Keep reading to gain deeper insights into the Esri technologies used to optimize campus operations.

Streamlining Campus Planning and Management with ArcGIS Enterprise/Online

Universities use ArcGIS Enterprise together with ArcGIS Online to host, share, analyze and visualize campus infrastructure, land use, and transportation networks. For instance, Portal for ArcGIS can be used to provide access to ArcGIS Pro, which campus planners can use to create detailed 2D or 3D models of campus buildings and landscapes for optimizing space utilization, planning new construction projects, and improving campus accessibility. The models can then be published to ArcGIS Enterprise and used in web maps, scenes, and apps built with ArcGIS Experience Builder, other low-code/no-code app builders or ArcGIS Maps SDKs.

Case Study: University of Saskatchewan

The University of Saskatchewan utilizes ArcGIS Enterprise to help manage its extensive campus facilities. Due to data sensitivity, they host their dataset in ArcGIS Enterprise installed on their own infrastructure and share layers in ArcGIS Online for map and app development, such as a dashboard built with Experience Builder to visualize and manage campus infrastructure data. Using ArcGIS Pro to work with the data hosted in ArcGIS Enterprise, they create and maintain detailed campus maps, manage utilities and infrastructure, and facilitate work orders, ensuring efficient use of resources.

The University of Saskatchewan Campus Infrastructure Management Dashboard displays underground utilities such as watermains on a map along with building footprints, parking, and road networks. It has tools to find information about infrastructure elements.

University of Saskatchewan Campus Infrastructure Management Dashboard

Case Study: Western University

Western University implemented a Service Interruption Dashboard, built with ArcGIS Dashboards and using ArcGIS Online, to manage and communicate campus service disruptions and thereby minimize the impact of service interruptions. The real-time updates and interactive map allow facility managers to quickly identify, address, and coordinate response efforts to issues such as power outages or water supply interruptions, road closure and building access restriction.

The Western University Service Interruption Dashboard has filters for the type of interruption and buildings in a panel to the left of the map and start and end date selectors above the map. Information about current interruptions is listed in a panel to the right of the map.

Western University Service Interruption Dashboard

Case Study: University of Washington

The Facility office at the University of Washington clears roads and walkways during snow events to ensure that the campus is accessible to the University community. To assist visitors, students, staff, and faculty navigate campus during these events, the data in the Snow Removal Progress apps is updated in real time. Road and walkway closures are communicated along with current and past removal efforts. ArcGIS GeoEvent Server and ArcGIS Field Maps offer tools and functionalities for real-time snow removal management, enabling universities to track activities and allocate resources efficiently.

This University of Washington’s Snow Removal Progress app displays the current status of snow removal on campus roads, sidewalks and parking lots. It also shows the locations of traffic cameras on campus.

University of Washington Snow Removal Management Application

Enhancing Facilities Management

The integration of BIM and CAD with GIS within ArcGIS Enterprise or ArcGIS Online revolutionizes campus infrastructure management by combining detailed architectural models with geospatial data in a unified platform. This integration enhances planning, design, and decision-making, allowing facility managers to create 3D models, perform spatial analysis, and visualize building information geographically. Esri's collaboration with Autodesk places GIS and BIM integration at the forefront of AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) projects, driving digital transformation for a more sustainable, resilient future.

Case Study: Toronto Metropolitan University

The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Smart Campus Integrated Platform utilizes ArcGIS Online and the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript to enhance campus planning and management. This 3D dashboard provides a dynamic and interactive view of the campus, allowing administrators to visualize various elements such as building footprints, green spaces, transportation networks, and utility systems in a three-dimensional context. The model includes both university buildings and city buildings, placing the urban campus in the context of its surrounding neighborhood. The CAD data was transformed into the 3D Scene layers which were hosted in ArcGIS Online, and ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript was used to develop a customized dashboard. This dashboard allows the facility staff to monitor utility consumption and receive notifications about potential water leaks in campus buildings.

The Smart Campus Integrated Platform for TMU displays a 3D model of campus buildings and surrounding buildings in downtown Toronto along with trees and the road network. Underground infrastructure is visible through a transparent ground layer.

TMU’s Smart Campus Integrated Platform

This left image is a view of the model from below ground, showing watermains and other underground campus utility networks. The right image is a view of the model from above one of the campus buildings. Campus buildings are red to differentiate them from surrounding neighbourhood buildings.

GIS Used to Manage Campus Utility Networks and Building Maintenance of Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU)

Case Study: Fanshawe College

The Fanshawe College Building Condition Assessment Dashboard is a powerful GIS tool that streamlines communication and decision-making. This report provides a quick glance at essential details, including each building’s condition, size, last construction date, and recent updates. The GIS data are hosted in ArcGIS Online, and ArcGIS Dashboards was used to develop the interface.

Fanshawe College Building Condition Assessment Dashboard

Ensuring Campus Safety and Public Security

Safety and security are paramount in university settings. ArcGIS Enterprise supports campus security teams by enabling real-time crime mapping, risk assessment, and emergency response planning. Dashboards can be used to provide a real-time operational view of campus security, allowing administrators to monitor incidents and deploy resources efficiently.

Case Studies: University of Denver and University of Iowa

The University of Denver developed the "Campus Safety Alert-- Timely Warning" map using ArcGIS Online to alert and report Sexual Assault and Harassment Cases within the campus area. This map helps security teams visualize incident data, assess risks, and respond promptly to emergencies, enhancing the overall safety of the campus. The University of Iowa’s campus safety web app used ArcGIS Web AppBuilder to help students and the public locate health facilities, including AEDs and Stop the Bleed kits (tools and information to control bleeding from severe injuries).

Advancing Sustainability with GIS

Sustainability is a key focus for many universities as they strive to reduce their environmental footprint and promote green practices. GIS technology plays a vital role in advancing sustainability initiatives on campus. ArcGIS Enterprise can be connected with other space management and asset management applications and databases, including SLAMs, Archibus etc., integrating all this information into a single platform for campus sustainability management. In addition, ArcGIS StoryMaps allows universities to create engaging narratives with interactive maps to share their sustainability efforts. ArcGIS Insights provides tools for analyzing environmental data and tracking progress toward sustainability goals.

Case Study: Fanshawe College

The Sustainability team developed a visualization tool showcasing Fanshawe's sustainability initiatives across the campus. This public interactive map features seven categories, including bikes, sensors, water, and waste, allowing users to easily explore and learn about Fanshawe's commitment to sustainability. They used ArcGIS Experience Builder and hosted GIS dataset in ArcGIS Online to develop the application.

The Fanshawe Sustainability Map displays the locations on campus of features related to energy conservation, solar technology, active transportation, waste diversion, water conservation and other sustainability measures. Users can select which features to display in the layer list to the left of the map.

Fanshawe College Sustainability Interactive Map

Efficient Campus Space and Utility Management

ArcGIS Enterprise helps universities manage their facilities more effectively by providing tools for asset tracking, maintenance scheduling, and utility management. ArcGIS Indoors, an indoor mapping solution, is particularly useful in this regard. It allows facility managers to create interactive indoor maps that help in tracking maintenance activities, managing space reservations, and navigating large campus buildings. ArcGIS Utility Network offers comprehensive tools for managing, modeling, and analyzing complex utility systems, including water, electricity, gas, and telecommunications.

Case Study: Harvard University

Harvard University used ArcGIS Indoors to create a digital twin of their campus and Indoor Viewer to share it with the university community. This digital twin assists in managing maintenance activities, event management, asset tracking, and providing students and staff with detailed indoor maps for easy navigation.

Harvard University’s Indoor Viewer in 2D mode with an example of directions for navigating between two buildings on campus. Text directions are displayed in a panel to the left of the map and the path to follow is displayed on the map. The viewer also includes tools to find specific types of locations, such as accessible entrances, and upcoming events on campus, and to save locations.

Harvard University's Indoor Viewer

Embracing ArcGIS Enterprise/ArcGIS Online for a Smarter Campus

As seen in the examples above, ArcGIS Enterprise, along with other Esri products and services including ArcGIS Online, offers higher education institutions a powerful suite of tools to enhance campus planning and management by optimizing their operations and creating a more efficient and collaborative campus environment. ArcGIS provides tools to facilitate importing, georeferencing, and managing CAD files for campus datasets. Additionally, with ArcGIS Enterprise, other campus asset management tools and user-managed databases can be integrated to create a comprehensive and interconnected campus management system. Both ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online also facilitate data sharing and collaboration among different departments, administrators, and community members. The broad range of applications and mapping services available in either ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise facilitates the process of developing apps and maps for stakeholder and public engagement so that decisions are made more effectively. For example, ArcGIS Enterprise Sites or ArcGIS Hub in ArcGIS Online can help universities create websites and initiatives to share data, gather feedback, and foster community involvement.

Esri’s Education Program includes ArcGIS Enterprise and other products for administrative use. Explore the apps linked above to see how ArcGIS can transform your institution’s campus planning and management. Contact us at highered@esri.ca to find out if your institution already has administrative use licenses or for a consultation or visit our website (esri.ca) to learn more about our solutions.