News

BEEE’s PhD student selected for the FCE Awards for Outstanding PhD Theses 2021/22

The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to report that Dr LIU Jia, our PhD student who is under the supervision of Prof YANG Hongxing, has been selected for the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) Awards for Outstanding PhD Theses 2021/22 on account of the excellent quality of PhD thesis and outstanding performance in the oral presentation.   To recognize outstanding PhD students in the FCE who have distinguished themselves with the quality of their theses for the PhD degree at PolyU, the Faculty has established the ‘FCE Awards for Outstanding PhD Theses’.   Only full-time and part-time PhD students registered under FCE whose PhD theses’ overall quality were rated as “excellent” by the Board of Examiners (BoE) concerned and whose degrees have been ratified by the Graduate School Board (GSB) between 1 July of the preceding year and 30 June of the application year are eligible to be nominated for the academic year concerned.   In the thesis, Dr LIU developed new robust energy planning and optimization approaches of renewable energy and electric energy (RE-EES) systems for residential buildings. A novel EMS and design optimization framework is proposed for a real PV-battery system and experiments on a PV-battery system are conducted for model validation. A novel TOU grid penalty cost business model is proposed to improve grid flexibility and economy for NZE communities with RE-EES. In addition, innovative P2P energy trading management and optimization platforms of hybrid RE-HV-BV systems are developed for diversified NZE communities with new peer trading price models, improved trading strategies and trading optimizations. This study on hybrid RE-EES systems for both a single building and communities provides significant guidance to develop RE in integrated building and transport sectors for achieving carbon neutrality within urban contexts.   The Department would like to congratulate Dr LIU on the excellent achievement. We wish him continued success.

BEEE is going to receive two high quality PhD graduates from leading Chinese Mainland universities under Hong Kong Scholars Program

The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to report that Prof Linda XIAO and Prof YANG Hongxing are going to receive two high quality PhD graduates from leading Chinese Mainland universities under Hong Kong Scholars Program.   Jide NIU who will be under the supervision of Prof YANG received his BSc at North China Electric Power University and MSc and PhD at Tianjin University.  He is currently working as the Assistant Researcher at Tianjin University.  His research interests include robust optimization design method of building energy system under uncertainties, hierarchical dispatch and control optimization of building energy system based on model prediction and demand response.   Dr LI Yanxue who will be under the supervision of Prof XIAO received his BSc at Qingdao University of Technology, MSc at Tianjin University and PhD at the University of Kitakyushu. He is currently working as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Architectural Design & Research Institute of Tongji University (Group) Co., Ltd. His research interests include building energy flexibility, demand response, zero-energy building and building carbon emission reduction.   Prof XIAO’s and Prof YANG’s research projects are Development of Smart Building Management Technologies Towards Carbon Neutrality and Development of hybrid renewable energy systems with energy storage in buildings towards carbon neutrality respectively.   The “Hong Kong Scholars Program” is jointly launched by the Society of Hong Kong Scholars and the China National Postdoctoral Council under the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. It aims at effectively pooling talent and research resources of Hong Kong and the Mainland to train outstanding postdoctoral fellows. Selected “Hong Kong Scholars” (i.e. the postdoctoral fellows) will come to Hong Kong to commence postdoctoral research work under professors at various universities in Hong Kong. This Program will help professors of Hong Kong solicit high quality PhD graduates from leading universities on the Mainland, thus promoting academic and scientific exchanges and collaboration between the two places.   The Department wish the research projects of Prof XIAO and Prof YANG every success.

Welcome Message from Department Head

The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) was officially established in December 1981 (formerly referred to as the Department of Building Services Engineering). We have been serving Hong Kong’s building services engineering industry ever since, promoting sustainable, efficient and healthy indoor and urban living environments in one of the world’s greatest cities by providing world class teaching and conducting internationally leading research.  BEEE is one of the constituent departments of the Faculty of Construction and Environment, and offers a full range of taught and research based study programmes leading to awards from Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) to Masters (MSc and MEng) right up to Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).   Among many challenges confronting the world, perhaps the most critical is to provide high quality living environments to rapidly urbanising and ageing populations under the creeping threat of a worsening climate and increasing environmental pollution. UN forecasts that the world's population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050. 70% of the people are projected to live in urban areas, placing enormous strain on cities and the environment. To deal effectively with these challenges, future building engineers will need to be data savvy and work in interdisciplinary teams to deliver optimal solutions enabling smart urban environments incorporating elements such as vertical farms; renewables driven integrated buildings and transport systems; citywide recycling and so on for a sustainable planet and a smart and resilient built environment. In order to promote this vision, we have designed state of the art study programmes providing the best possible training to our students in designing high performance buildings and building systems through judicious exploitation of the sciences and contemporary technologies such as sensor and comms networks, AI and IoT techniques, data science and programming, BIM and digital twin systems etc. This is consistent with our mission, stated as, to imagine, engineer and promote sustainable, salutogenic and safe environments for human habitation.   BEEE full-time academic and teaching staff members engage in a wide range of research activities organized in the following three research themes:   Building Energy: Energy issues in buildings are addressed in the context of both demand and supply to improve the sustainability of the built environment. Building Environment: Optimisation of buildings and built environments for thermal comfort, indoor air quality, visual/spatial and vibration/acoustic aspects to improve occupant health and productivity. Building Safety and Resilience: Protection of building occupants from hazards such as fire and lightning to improve safety and resilience of communities, buildings and built environments.   I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in our department and programmes and hope you’ll join us in learning to promote smarter urban environments for a better and more sustainable future for humanity and our planet.   Prof. Asif Usmani Head of Unit Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering

BEEE’s Associate Professor Awarded RMB 2 million from the National’s 2022 Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau)

The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to report that our Associate Professor, Dr Wei Minchen Tommy was awarded a total amount of RMB 2 million from the National’s 2022 Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau).   Dr Wei has been continuously conducting research on fundamental colour science, and the research outcomes have contributed to the further understanding of human visual system and mechanisms, in order to investigate and improve the quality of lighting and imaging systems. The awarded project he led, namely “Colour Appearance Model and Colour Space”, aims to investigate colour appearance and difference under complicated conditions. The research findings can be used for various imaging systems, such as cameras, displays, smartphones, tablets, drones, and metaverse-related systems, which will be of great scientific and practical importance for colour science and industry.   Under the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau) aims to support young scholars (under the age of 38 for male or 40 for female) who have attained achievements in basic research and conducted innovative research in their chosen fields, fostering them to be internationally leading scholars.   The Department would like to congratulate Dr Wei on the excellent achievement. We wish them continued success.

A Research Project Led by BEEE’s Assistant Professor was Successfully Supported by Smart Traffic Fund

The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to announce that a research project led by our Assistant Professor, Dr Sunliang Cao (PI), with our Professor, Prof. Hongxing Yang, Dr Yang Xu (LSGI/FCE) and Dr Kai Pan (LMS/FB) as Co-Is, was successfully supported by the HKSAR Government’s Smart Traffic Fund during the fourth batch out of three awarded projects. Dr. Cao’s project is also the only “Pure Research Project” being supported during the fourth batch. The total funding of this research project is around HK$ 2.5 million.   The Smart Traffic Fund aims to provide competitive funding to support both “Pure Research Project” and “Research and Application Project” in the fields of smart traffic with the objectives of enhancing commuting convenience, enhancing efficiency of the road network or road space, and improving driving safety.  For more details about the Fund, please click HERE.   Dr Cao’s project is entitled “The smart charging development of zero-emission autonomous electric vehicles by the X2V and V2X technologies with respect to the dynamic traffic, grid and energy information”. The primary objective of the project is to develop a smart charging energy management system and associated smart business models, which can guide the decision-making process to optimally determine where, when and how to charge the electric vehicles. The Department and the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) will be continuously dedicated to the high-level research in the field of smart traffic and smart transportation.   The Department would like to congratulate Dr Cao and his team on the success for this project application, and wish them continued success.

BEEE’s Ph.D. Student Won the Best Production Award in the Learning to Learn (L2L) Video Contest

The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to announce that a team composed of our Ph.D. student, Tejeshwar Yarlagadda and Bharati Das (student of PolyU Design) won the Best Production Award in the Learning to Learn (L2L) Video Contest for a video entitled “If Technology was your friend”.   The L2L Video Contest was organized by the Learning to Learn Community of Practice (L2L CoP) in March and April 2022. It invited students and teachers to create short videos to share their insights and discoveries with a view to helping others to become better learners. This year, a total of 50 videos were submitted from the PolyU community to compete for the prizes. For more information about the Contest, please visit: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/CoP/2020/L2L/events.html   An Awards Presentation Ceremony was held on 8 June 2022    The Department would like to congratulate Mr Tejeshwar Yarlagadda and his team on the excellent achievement. We wish them continued success.  

BEEE’s Associate Professor Awarded Young Innovative Researcher Award (YIRA) 2022

The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to announce that our Associate Professor, Dr Wei Minchen Tommy was awarded Young Innovative Researcher Award (YIRA) 2022 for a research project entitled “Human vision-based solutions for lighting and imaging systems”.   The PolyU Young Innovative Researcher Award (YIRA) aims to honor young PolyU researchers under the age of 35 who have demonstrated novelty, contributed to technology advancement, and propelled transformational innovation into solutions for addressing problems in society with a vision for a positive change to the future. This year, the YIRA assessment panel has reviewed 59 submissions across 22 departments, interviewed shortlisted applicants and selected six YIRA awardees. Each YIRA awardee will receive research funding support of HK$500,000 and personal cash prize of HK$20,000 as the encouragement for their research novelty and impact.     Dr Wei’s research focuses on color science, trying to understand how humans see color and light using different methods (e.g., psychophysics, eye-tracking, etc). The findings help to develop algorithms and solutions for various industries, including lighting, cameras, displays, smartphones, VR/AR/MR-enabled metaverse systems, through the collaborations with world-leading high-tech industrial partners.   The Department would like to congratulate Dr Wei on the excellent achievement. We wish him continued success.

BEEE’s Alumni on List of Highly Cited Chinese Researchers 2021

The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) is proud to announce that our alumni, Dr Ma Tao is among the most influential researchers according to Elsevier’s Highly Cited Chinese Researchers 2021.   Dr Ma Tao, 2015 PhD graduate of BEEE, supervised by Professor Yang Hongxing and Professor Lu Lin Vivien, has been named as one of the Highly Cited Chinese Scholars in the field of Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics in 2021. He is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research is mainly related to fundamental research and applications of solar photovoltaic technologies.   The Highly Cited Chinese Researchers list analyzes the performance of Chinese scholars' scientific research achievements based on Elsevier’s world-renowned abstract and citation database Scopus and methodology developed by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, and has been highly influential since it was first released in 2015.   The Department would like to congratulate Dr Ma Tao on the excellent achievement. We wish him continued success.

BEEE’s Ph.D. Student Was Elected Student Research Fellow of the SFPE Grand Challenges Initiative

The Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to report that our Ph.D. candidate, Mr. Zhang Tianhang, was elected as Student Research Fellow of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) Grand Challenges Initiative.   See more details in https://www.sfpe.org/foundation/grandchallenges/gci-student-research-fellows   SFPE Grand Challenges Initiative aims to identify how fire safety science and engineering can contribute to addressing pressing challenges in the following four topics: Energy & Infrastructure, Resilience & Sustainability, Climate Change, and Digitalization, Artificial Intelligence, & Cybersecurity. Each of the four Working Groups will be supported by a Student Research Fellow. Tianhang was elected as Student Research Fellow in the working group of Digitalization, Artificial Intelligence, & Cybersecurity, and the other fellows are postdocs. He will support the 2022 GCI Virtual Summit and conduct one-year work on the assigned topic area, participate in drafting, reviewing, and editing a 10-year strategic engagement plan for the field. A fellowship of USD 5,000 will be provided by SFPE Foundation to support his research work.   Under the supervision of Dr. Huang Xinyan and Prof. Xiao Fu. Mr. Zhang Tianhang is exploring how AI methods can help firefighting and how to realize the AI-assistant firefighting actions with the Internet of Things and Digital Twin technologies. So far, he has published several journal papers on smart firefighting in Fire Technology, Fire Safety Journal, and Tunneling and Underground Space Technology.   The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) is the world's leading professional society representing those practicing in the field of fire protection and fire safety engineering. The Society has over 4,800 members and over 100 chapters worldwide, including more than 20 student chapters. The SFPE Hong Kong Student Chapter was founded in 2019. It is the first student chapter in the Greater China Area and wins the Gold Award in 2012. Mr Tianhang Zhang currently serves as the president of SFPE Hong Kong Student Chapter.   The Department would like to congratulate Mr. Zhang Tianhang on the excellent achievement. We wish him continued success.  

The Establishment of the Faculty of Construction and Environment Education and Research Fund (FCE Fund)

On 26 March 2022, an online launch ceremony of the FCE Fund was hosted and graced by Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, President of PolyU, Prof. Xiang-dong Li, Dean of FCE, Ms Belinda Chow, Director of Alumni Affairs and Development and Ir Yau Kwok-fai, President of the Federation of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Alumni Associations.   The establishment of the FCE Fund, with the backing of the University, provides sustainable resources to the Faculty to accelerate its research and education efforts, with the ultimate goal of benefiting our society and the wider world.   To learn more about the FCE fund, please visit FCE Fund’s website or view the introduction video.