Prof. WU Wei (吳偉)

Dr. Wei Wu received his Bachelor’s degree from the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2010. He obtained his PhD degree from the Department of Building Science at Tsinghua University in 2016. He was formerly a visiting scholar of the Center for Environmental Energy Engineering at University of Maryland in 2013. Since 2016, he served as a guest researcher of the Energy and Environment Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He joined the City University of Hong Kong as an assistant professor in the School of Energy and Environment in July 2018.

Dr. Wu’s research is focused on sustainable building energy technologies. Aiming to mitigate the energy use and environmental impact in building sector from widened and deepened perspectives, his research work has been conducted at multi-levels: (1) investigating merits and potentials of alternative working fluids for heat pumps; (2) proposing a cluster of technologies for performance improvement of heat pumps; (3) exploring design and optimization methods of HVAC systems in net-zero energy buildings. He has obtained 9 patents, and he is now preparing a book titled Absorption Heating Technologies: Efficient Heating, Heat Recovery and Renewable Energy for Springer.

Dr. Wu’s systematical multi-level research work provides innovative ideas and promising solutions to the developments of sustainable HVAC and buildings. At fluid level, he investigated natural and low-GWP refrigerants for vapor-compression heat pumps as well as alternative working fluids for absorption heat pumps. At equipment level, he conducted many outstanding studies on performance improvement of heat pumps, including novel absorption heating cycles, novel ground source heat pumps, and hybrid heat pumps for renewable/waste energy utilization. At building level, his research was focused on HVAC and PV design and optimization for net-zero energy buildings in different climates. Specific research topics are briefed as follows:

• Novel absorption heating and cooling technologies. (1) Efficient utilization of fossil fuels; (2) Industrial energy saving; (3) Hybrid absorption-compression cycles; (4) Ionic-liquid absorption cycles.
• Renewable and waste energy technologies. (1) Solar heating and cooling; (2) Geothermal heating, cooling and power; (3) Waste heating, cooling and power.
• Advanced heat pump technologies. (1) Novel ground source heat pump (GSHP); (2) Hybrid GSHP for thermal balance and borehole reduction; (3) Hybrid solar-air-source heat pump; (4) Gas-engine heat pump.
• Natural and low-GWP refrigerants. (1) CO2 GSHP and performance improvement; (2) GSHP using various alternative refrigerants; (3) Advanced CO2 heat pump cycles; (4) Low-GWP cycle simulation and optimization.
• Net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs). (1) Energy-efficient and cost-effective HVAC in NZEBs; (2) Design and optimization of NZEBs in different climates; (3) Advanced energy systems in NZEBs

Selected Awards and Honours

• Willis H. Carrier Young Researcher Award of IIR (International Institute of Refrigeration) (8 from all over the world every 4 years), 2019
• Excellent Young Scholar Award of Energy and Built Environment (3 from all over the world every 2 years), 2019
• Distinguished Associate Award of NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), 2019
• The Special Postgraduate Scholarship of Tsinghua University (Highest honor for Tsinghua graduate students, 10 each year), 2015
• The Outstanding Postgraduate Researcher of Tsinghua University (Highest honor for Tsinghua student researchers, 10 each year), 2014
• The XiaAnshi Scholarship (4 graduates majored in HVAC&R in China), 2015
• The Excellent Paper Award of Chinese Association of Refrigeration, 2015
• National Scholarship for PhD students, 2014
• First-class Scholarship of Tsinghua University, 2013
• Distinguished Bachelor Thesis of Hubei Province, 2010
• Built Environment Award for HVAC students in China, 2009