News

BEEE Professors Honoured with PolyU Patents Achievement Award 2024

The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is proud to announce that two of our distinguished professors, Prof. YANG Hong Xing and Prof. HUANG Xinyan, have been recognized as recipients of the PolyU Patents Achievement Award 2024. This prestigious award celebrates outstanding contributions to intellectual property (IP) filing and innovation at PolyU.   Award Highlights: Prof. HUANG Xinyan Top Patents Filing Award 2024: Recognizes IP filing activities over the past five years (2020–2024). Most Active Patents Filing Award 2024: Acknowledges IP filing activities within the year 2024. Prof. YANG Hong Xing Outstanding IP Commercialisation Award 2024: Honours high-value licensing cases over the past three years (2022–2024).   Prof. Huang has filed more than 10 patents covering innovative technologies such as smart fire detectors, firefighting robots, fire services systems, battery safety management, and advanced combustion reactors.   Prof. Yang’s award is attributed to two successful IP license transfers to local engineering companies, showcasing the real-world impact of BEEE’s research and innovation. The licensed technologies are: 1. Indirect Evaporative Cooling Technology for Air-Conditioning A highly efficient indirect evaporative cooler (IEC) has been developed for energy recovery in central air-conditioning systems. This innovation utilizes the cooling potential of exhaust air, enabling effective evaporative cooling even in hot and humid regions. Installed before an air-handling unit (AHU), the IEC pre-cools fresh air by harnessing cool, dry exhaust air from air-conditioned spaces. Specially designed channels with hydrophilic and hydrophobic coatings further enhance cooling efficiency. This technology can save approximately 17% to 35% of energy for fresh air supply in commercial buildings. 2. Micro Incline Hydropower Harvesting Device An innovative self-adaptive hydropower harvesting system has been developed to generate electricity from water flow in urban pipelines, powering the Waterpipe Intelligent Network (WIN) while minimizing water head loss. The fourth-generation system has been successfully tested on WSD water pipelines for over a year, providing reliable and continuous power. This micro power generation system offers significant economic and sustainability advantages over traditional chemical batteries, with potential applications in water pipelines in other cities. It enables cost-effective and reliable power for data monitoring meters and sensors, reducing maintenance costs and improving system reliability.   Please join us in congratulating Prof. Yang and Prof. Huang for their remarkable achievements and contributions. Their dedication to innovation, impactful research, and the successful translation of intellectual property into societal and commercial value is truly inspiring. We hope these awards will continue to motivate our BEEE community to strive for excellence in IP creation, commercialisation, and knowledge transfer, further strengthening our department’s role in shaping a future of innovation and impact at PolyU.  

BEEE Academic Staff Honored in Stanford's Top 2% Scientists Compilation

The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is delighted to announce a significant achievement. 19 BEEE academic staff members have been recognized among the world's top 2% of scientists in their respective disciplines, according to the index recently compiled by Stanford University.  BEEE Top 2% Scientists in the Global List  Name Subject Field (Top-Ranked Science-Metrix Category) Professor Ni Meng Energy Ir Professor Christopher Chao Building & Construction Professor Chen Qingyan Building & Construction Ir Professor Niu Jianlei Building & Construction Ir Professor Wang Shengwei Energy Professor Asif Sohail Usmani Civil Engineering Professor Yan Jinyue Jerry Energy Ir Professor Lai Hung Kit Joseph Building & Construction Ir Professor Lu Lin Vivien Energy Ir Professor Mak Cheuk Ming Building & Construction Ir Professor Mui Kwok Wai Horace Building & Construction Professor Xiao Fu Building & Construction Ir Professor Yang Hongxing Energy Professor Cao Sunliang Energy Professor Huang Xinyan Energy Ir Professor Wong Ling Tim Building & Construction Professor Yuen Anthony Chun Yin Mechanical Engineering & Transports Dr Liu Junwei Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Dr Shi Jihao Energy   The latest release of the citation indicators, compiled by a team of experts led by Professor John Ioannidis at Stanford University, is based on the top 100,000 scientists by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above in the sub-field. Scientists are classified into 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields according to the standard Science-Metrix classification. Field- and subfield-specific percentiles are also provided for all scientists with at least 5 papers. Career-long data are updated to end-of-2024 and single recent year data pertain to citations received during calendar year 2024.    This publicly available database provides standardized information on citations, h-index, co-authorship adjusted hm-index, citations to papers in different authorship positions, and a composite indicator. The complete list can be found here. (As per the data published by Elsevier 19 September 2025 (version 8) )   Congratulations to our top scientists for this well-deserved recognition!  

BEEE Researchers Publish Breakthroughs in Top Energy Journals

The BEEE Department is proud to announce two recent research breakthroughs published in the prestigious journal Advanced Energy Materials, showcasing our commitment to innovation in sustainable building and energy technologies.   Smart Window Film for Cooler, Drier, and More Private Indoor Spaces A research team from BEEE, Professor Yan Jinyue Jerry and Dr Liu Junwei, has developed a revolutionary smart window film that passively regulates both sunlight and humidity, making indoor environments cooler during the day and drier at night—without any electricity or moving parts. The moisture-responsive, light-regulating (MRLR) film demonstrated impressive results in real-world tests, reducing room humidity from 92% to 54% within six hours at night and lowering daytime temperatures by upto 21°C compared to unprotected areas. The film’s durability was confirmed over 300 cycles, and its low-cost, eco-friendly materials make it highly scalable, with an estimated payback period of just 34 days. Building-scale modeling suggests the MRLR film could cut annual energy use by 24.6% and reduce carbon emissions by 18.89 kg/(year·m²). This innovative work was published in Advanced Energy Materials and was awarded a Silver Medal at the International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva. Read the full paper: DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202503332   Hydrogel Coating Makes Solar Panels Safer, More Efficient, and Longer-Lasting In another significant advance, BEEE researchers, Professor Yan Jinyue Jerry and Dr Liu Junwei, have created a simple, affordable hydrogel coating that passively cools solar panels, preventing damaging “hot spots” without requiring any changes to panel wiring. This new hydrogel keeps hot spots up to 16°C cooler and boosts power output by as much as 13%. The coating is also more durable than previous versions, maintaining its effectiveness over time. Modeling indicates that this technology could increase annual solar power generation by 7% in Singapore and 6.5% in Hong Kong, with payback periods as short as 3–4 years. Globally, it could recover about half of the power lost to hot spots in building-integrated solar systems, accelerating the transition to clean, carbon-neutral energy. Read the full paper: DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202504366   Congratulations to our research teams for these outstanding achievements and for advancing the frontiers of sustainable energy solutions!    

BEEE Research Team Honoured with Prestigious Philip Thomas Medal of Excellence

The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University(PolyU) is delighted to announce that Prof. Jiang Liming, Prof. Asif Usmani, and Dr Chu Tianwei have received the prestigious Philip Thomas Medal of Excellence Award from International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS). This award is to recognize the only one best paper of each IAFSS held in every three years, and the award will be presented at the 15th IAFSS symposium in 2026, La Rochelle, France.    IAFSS as the most recognized association in fire safety research, was founded in 1985, which organises the IAFSS symposiums every three years. The Philip Thomas Medal of Excellence is awarded to the author(s) of the best paper presented at a previous IAFSS Symposium, which is selected according to the five criteria: pertinence, utility, significance, rationality, eloquence of the paper.    The 2026 Philip Thomas Medal of Excellence is awarded to BEEE research team for their best paper presented in IAFSS 2023, which is titled “Introducing an active opening strategy to mitigate large open-plan compartment fire development”. This research is led by Prof. Jiang Liming (Associate Professor of BEEE, Chief Supervisor of 1st Author and Corresponding author of the awarded paper), whose research mainly focuses on fire safety of modern buildings and automated construction solutions. The 1st author Dr Chu Tianwei was a PhD student in BEEE, graduated in March 2025, has just started his Associate Professor job in China University of Mining and Technology. The 3rd author of this awarded paper is Prof. Asif Usmani, who is Chair Professor of Building Sciences and Fire Safety Engineering, and the co-supervisor of Dr Chu Tianwei.    This prestigious medal demonstrates the international recognition of BEEE research team in the field of fire safety research and underscores PolyU’s and BEEE’s commitment to research excellence and innovation. More details about IAFSS Philip Thomas Meda of Excellence could be found here: https://iafss.org/awards/philip-thomas-medal-of-excellence/    

Result Announcement - Outstanding Alumni Award of PolyU BEEE 2025

The Outstanding Alumni Award of PolyU Department aims to give public recognition to outstanding graduates of the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) for their significant contributions to their profession and community, as well as to their alma mater. The Award was first presented in 2010, and this year marks the 10th round of the selection process. We are pleased to announce the two distinguished awardees for 2025: Outstanding Alumni Award of PolyU BEEE 2025 Ir Cheng Wai Lung, Brian   Ir Cheng Wai Lung, Brian, is the Group Executive Director and Managing Director of Analogue Holdings Ltd. He also serves as a director of various subsidiary companies within the Analogue Holding Group across Hong Kong, the PRC, Macau, Singapore, and Malaysia.  He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Building Services Engineering and a Master of Science in Construction and Real Estate from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. With over 30 years of experience in the building engineering sector, he previously served as Deputy General Manager at China State Mech. & Elec. Engineering Ltd. and as Director and General Manager of Transcendence Company Ltd. under China State Construction Engineering Group.  Throughout his career, Mr. Cheng has been dedicated to upholding the status and standards of the building services profession. He has actively served various professional institutions for more than 17 years and he has also contributed to nearly 40 committees, panels, and advisory groups across government bodies and higher educational institutions, including various Appeal Boards, Tribunal Panels, Examination Groups, and Advisory Panels since 2009.   He is a Registered Professional Engineer (RPE) in Building Services and Energy, a Chartered Engineer and a fellow of several leading engineering institutions in Hong Kong and the UK.  He served as Chairman of the Building Services Division of HKIE from 2018 to 2019.   Currently, he serves as an Honorary Technical Advisor of CIPHE (HK), Council Member, Deputy Chairman of the Professional Assessment Committee, and Deputy Chairman of the Building Services Discipline Advisory Panel of HKIE.   Mr. Cheng is widely recognized as one of the pioneering leaders in applying innovative construction methods and advancing engineering digitalization within the MEP and maintenance sectors. He established MiMEP Research and Manufacturing Centres in both Hong Kong and mainland China to enhance construction safety, maintenance efficiency, and productivity. Through these efforts, he consistently leverages his expertise to elevate industry standards and strengthen the professional standing of building services.   Committed to social contribution through his profession, Mr. Cheng has initiated  impactful CSR programs within the company: (1) The Homework Support Initiative pairs graduate engineers with underprivileged students for tutoring, fostering both academic growth and social responsibility; (2) The Elderly Home Safety Project deploys skilled technicians to assist elderly residents with essential home safety modifications and repairs; (3) The Neighbourhood Sisters Programme offers flexible part-time employment and training in site safety inspection for homemakers seeking to re-enter the workforce; (4) The Community Workshops provide practical home maintenance training, empowering residents to build self-reliance and mutual support within the community. These initiatives have established him as a role model who seamlessly blends professional excellence with social responsibility.     Outstanding Young Alumni Award of PolyU BEEE 2025 Professor WANG Yuanhao Prof. Yuanhao Wang is a Professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), a Distinguished Chair Professor at the Shenzhen Hoffmann Institute of Advanced Materials (Shenzhen Nobel Prize Laboratory), and concurrently serves as a Ph.D. supervisor at Northeastern University and Xinjiang University. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in New Energy Materials from the Faculty of Construction and Environment of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2011 and his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Tsinghua University in 2007. Prof. Wang has extensive academic and industrial experience. Before joining USTB, he worked as Research Professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology, Professor at the Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and served in leadership roles in multiple high-tech enterprises, including co-founding Shenzhen Peacock Technology Development Co., Ltd. and Fujian Sino-American Youtop Technology Development Co., Ltd., where he acted as Chief Scientist.   Prof. Wang has devoted his career to the research and industrialization of green building nanomaterials, resource recycling, and new energy materials and devices. He has published over 200 papers in leading international journals, including Advanced Materials and Advanced Energy Materials, with 25 ESI highly cited papers, and an h-index of 47. He has applied for and been granted more than 20 Chinese invention patents, many of which have been successfully commercialized, generating more than 80 million RMB in economic benefits. He has led over 20 national and regional research projects with a total funding exceeding 50 million RMB.   Prof. Wang has received numerous prestigious awards, including the First Prize of the Military Science and Technology Progress Award (2025), and State Council Special Allowance Expert (2021). He was selected into the National “Thousand Talents Plan” (2016), honored with the Fujian May Fourth Youth Medal (2019), and has won multiple international invention gold medals, such as at the Geneva and Nuremberg International Exhibitions of Inventions. His innovative technologies, including superhydrophobic coatings and self-cleaning photovoltaic materials, have been widely recognized for their contributions to sustainable development. Prof. Wang actively contributes to the academic community, serving on the editorial boards of Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica, Solar Energy, Salt Lake Research, and Engineering. He also engages closely with PolyU, as a co-supervisor of Ph.D. students, a project leader in award-winning PolyU-led research, and an active member of the PolyU Beijing Alumni Association.   The Department is proud to recognize the outstanding achievements of these two awardees in the building services engineering industry and their contributions to the community and PolyU. We extend our gratitude to all the Selection Panel members for their excellent volunteer work in the selection process.  

Welcome Message from Department Head

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) at the Faculty of Construction and Environment.   Since our establishment in December 1981, BEEE has been committed to nurturing competent professionals and innovative researchers for Hong Kong’s construction industry and beyond. Our alumni have gone on to play leading roles in industry, government, and academia, reflecting the strength and impact of our department.   As the world’s urban population continues to grow—the need for sustainable, resilient, and healthy cities has never been more urgent. At BEEE, we are dedicated to equipping our students with the knowledge and skills to address these global challenges. Our comprehensive programmes, ranging from Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) to Masters (MSc and MEng) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), are designed to integrate cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, data science, IoT, and green infrastructure into the design and operation of high-performance buildings and urban environments.   Our academic staff are internationally recognized experts, actively engaged in research across three core areas: Building Energy, Building Environment, and Building Safety and Resilience. We are proud that, according to a 2024 Stanford University study, 17 of our colleagues are ranked among the world’s top 2% scientists in their fields. PolyU’s global reputation is further reflected in the 2025 QS World University Rankings, where we are ranked 17th worldwide in both “Architecture and Built Environment” and “Civil and Structural Engineering”—achievements to which BEEE has made significant contributions.   BEEE maintains strong partnerships with industry, government, and overseas institutions, providing our students with abundant opportunities for internships, knowledge exchange, and participation in local and international competitions. Our supportive and dynamic learning environment encourages students to become socially responsible professionals and future leaders with both national pride and a global perspective.   I invite you to explore our website to learn more about our programmes, research, and achievements. By joining BEEE, you are embarking on a journey to help create more sustainable, healthy, and safe living environments for future generations.   Once again, welcome to the BEEE family. I wish you every success in your academic and personal growth during your time with us. Professor Meng Ni Chair Professor of Energy Science and Technology Associate Dean of Faculty of Construction and Environment Head, Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering  

BEEE’s PhD student selected for the FCE Awards for Outstanding PhD Theses 2024/25

The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is delighted to announce that Dr Chen Zhe, a PhD student supervised by Prof. Xiao Fu, has been selected as a recipient of the FCE Awards for Outstanding PhD Theses 2024/25.   This award recognizes the exceptional quality of Dr Chen’s PhD thesis and his outstanding performance during the oral defense. Organized by the Faculty of Construction and Environment, the FCE Awards honor the most distinguished doctoral research within the faculty.   In the thesis, Dr Chen addresses the critical challenge of making AI trustworthy for building energy management. By integrating domain knowledge and physical rules into data-driven models, he transforms “black-box” models into interpretable and reliable tools for optimizing and diagnosing air-conditioning systems. The impact of his research has been demonstrated through a year-long, real-world deployment at PolyU's chiller plant, achieving a remarkable improvement in energy efficiency and substantial energy savings.   The Department warmly congratulates Dr Chen on this outstanding achievement and looks forward to his continued success and the positive impact his work will bring to the field.  

New Associate Professor - Prof. Guo Ye

BEEE is delighted to announce the appointment of Prof. Guo Ye as an Associate Professor, effective from 1st August 2025.    GUO Ye received his B.E. and Ph.D. degrees from Tsinghua University. He worked as a Postdoc at Cornell University for more than four years. Before joining PolyU, he was an Associate Professor at Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute since 2021.   Prof. Guo's research is on the building-grid energy ecosystem. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed research papers in prestigious journals and conferences on energy systems. From 2019 to 2021, Prof. Guo received the IEEE PES General Meeting Best Paper Award four times in three years in a row, including a "Best-of-the-Best" Paper Award. He holds over a dozen patents and software copyrights, with one patent transferred at 1.89M CNY. He has secured over 20M CNY (21.8M HKD) research funding via competition as the leading PI, including two consecutive NSFC standard grants and over 12M CNY industrial funding from the China Southern Power Grid.   Prof. Guo assumed the co-chair of the IEEE PES Task Force on State Estimation for Integrated Energy Systems and received the 2024 Society-Level Working Group Recognition Award. He serves as Associate Editor for IEEE Trans. on Energy Market, Policy, and Regulations (Outstanding Editor in 2024) and CSEE Journal of Power and Energy Systems (Outstanding Editor in 2020 and 2021). He offered a path design for the electricity price reform toward carbon neutrality and received an official letter of appreciation from the National Development and Reform Commission of China.   Prof. Guo was selected for the National Young Talent Program (Funded with priority) and the Zhujiang Outstanding Young Talent Program of Guangdong Province. He is also a recipient of the May 4th Medal of Shenzhen.  

World Fuel Cell Conference was successfully held on 9-12 July 2025

We are delighted to share with you that the World Fuel Cell Conference 2025 (WFCC 2025) was successfully held on 9-12 July 2025!   This year, Hong Kong which is a cosmopolitan and energetic city, was selected to oragnise the  WFCC 2025! The conference was chaired by Prof. Meng Ni, the Head of Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering and a member of the management committee of Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE) of PolyU, and was co-chaired by Prof. Liang An (PolyU), Prof. Mengying Li (PolyU), Prof. Jian Wang (CityU), Prof. Weihong Li (CityU), Prof. Xianguo Li (University of Waterloo) and Prof. Jianbo Zhang (Tsinghua University).  Miss Kate Fung served as the secretariat for the conference.   It is our honour to have Ir Professor Christopher Chao, our Vice President (Research and Innovation) and Mr Arthur Lee, Commissioner for Climate Change in the Environment and Ecology Bureau of HKSARG to deliver the welcome speech and the opening speech.   In the Conference, more than 300 speakers and participants from 15 different countries and regions, such as United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Germany, Italy, France, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, India, New Zealand, South Korean, and Mainland China etc. shared their valuable insights towards the recent developments in hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, fuel cells, and innovative systems.   Besides, the conference also features a 3MT competition for research postgraduate students.   In the closing ceremony, we had award presentation session, more than 50 awardees are awarded with Best Poster Awards, Best Presentation Awards and 3MT Competition Awards. Congratulations to all of the awardees! At the end, Professor Xianguo LI are invited to announce an existing news which is the next World Fuel Cell Conference would be held in Japan! More information will be provided later.   Undoubtedly, this conference provides an excellent platform for scientists, engineers, industrial practitioners, and governmental policy makers to exchange ideas and seek collaborations on the development and applications of hydrogen energy, fuel cells, and the inter-connection.   We’d like to thank all participants to join our Conference and look forward to the next conference!   Conference detail: https://www.iahe-fcd.org/wfcc2025  

BEEE Industry Day 2025: Celebrating Excellence and Fostering Connections

The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) successfully hosted its annual Industry Day on 14 June 2025. The event brought together students, faculty, alumni, and industry partners to celebrate outstanding achievements and strengthen connections within the building sciences community.   The official ceremony began with a warm welcome from Professor Asif Sohail Usmani, Head of Department. (Remark: Prof. Ni Meng assumes the role of Head of Department effective 1 July 2025.) Professor L.T. Wong delivered the opening speech, highlighting the department’s recent milestones and future aspirations. The event also featured the presentation of the Outstanding Alumni Award, with Ir Dr CHAN Chi Wing sharing valuable insights and experiences from his distinguished career.   Professor Anthony Yuen then recognized student achievements and introduced the Research Exhibition, emphasizing the importance of innovation and collaboration in building sciences.   A highlight of the ceremony was the Industry Day Presentation, where both research and degree students were honored for their exceptional work. Awards presented included Special Citations in various disciplines, Merit Awards, Grand Awards, and the prestigious Pioneer Award, with recipients sharing their experiences and aspirations.   Following the ceremony, a poster exhibition showcased cutting-edge research and innovative projects by students, providing a vibrant platform for knowledge exchange and networking. Guests also enjoyed a tea reception, fostering further interaction among participants.   BEEE Industry Day 2025 was a resounding success, celebrating the achievements of our talented students and strengthening the bonds between academia and industry. The department extends its heartfelt congratulations to all awardees and sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to making this event memorable.   The photo gallery can be found here.