Center Positioning

The Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Low-Carbon and Energy-Efficient Buildings is aligned with China’s national carbon-peaking and carbon-neutrality goals. It focuses on key technologies for reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions in buildings, as well as their industrial application. Its principal research areas include construction materials produced through the resource utilization of solid waste, building envelope systems incorporating radiative cooling and energy storage, efficient geothermal energy utilization, multi-energy complementary systems, and district cooling technologies. The Center is committed to establishing an integrated technological system covering materials, design, construction, operation, and maintenance, thereby providing essential support for the development of green buildings and low-carbon cities.

Historical Development

The Center is hosted by the College of Civil and Transportation Engineering at Shenzhen University. It was formally established and submitted for approval in 2024 and was officially accredited in February 2025. By integrating Shenzhen University’s multidisciplinary strengths in civil engineering, construction materials, building environment and energy engineering, artificial intelligence, and related fields, the Center aims to become a leading national base for the research and development, engineering transformation, and industrial demonstration of key technologies for low-carbon and energy-efficient buildings.

Organizational Structure

The Center operates under a director-responsibility system led by its host institution. Professor Cui Hongzhi of the College of Civil and Transportation Engineering at Shenzhen University, a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, serves as Director of the Center. Professor Bao Xiaohua, also a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and Professor Mo Jinhan serve as Deputy Directors.

The Center has established a General Administration Office and an Academic Committee composed of renowned experts from China and abroad. The Academic Committee is responsible for providing guidance on the Center’s development strategy, research planning, and academic directions.

Research Team

The Center has established a high-level and multidisciplinary research and development team. It currently has 33 core research personnel, including 12 members with senior professional titles, eight with intermediate professional titles, and 26 holding doctoral degrees.

The team includes three recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, while several members have been included in the World’s Top 2% Scientists list released by Stanford University. A comprehensive talent structure has been formed, led by national-level high-calibre experts, supported by young and middle-aged core researchers, and complemented by postdoctoral researchers and postgraduate students.

Research Directions

Focusing closely on the principal challenges in low-carbon and energy-efficient building development, the Center has established five major research directions. These comprise technologies for producing green construction materials with high-volume industrial solid-waste incorporation; synergistic technologies integrating radiative cooling and phase-change energy storage; efficient utilization technologies for shallow and medium-to-deep geothermal energy; multi-energy complementary systems and flexible building energy-use technologies; and district cooling and phase-change cold-energy storage technologies.

Major Achievements

Over the past three years, the Center has undertaken more than 30 research projects, including projects funded by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, the National Natural Science Foundation of China Joint Fund for Railway Research, the General Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, major provincial and municipal science and technology programs, and industry–university–research collaboration projects. The total research funding has exceeded RMB 20 million.

During the same period, the Center has published more than 70 papers indexed by the Science Citation Index in leading journals such as Nature Communications, ACS Nano, Applied Energy, and Cement and Concrete Research. It has also obtained more than 30 authorized national invention patents, including patents entitled “An Integrated Building Heating and Cooling System and Control Method” and “Method, Equipment, and System for Testing the Durability of Phase-Change Materials.”

The Center’s research achievements have received numerous provincial, ministerial, and professional society awards, including the First Prize of the Guangdong Provincial Technological Invention Award, the First Prize of the Anhui Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award, and the First Prize of the Achievement Award under the Invention and Entrepreneurship Awards of the China Association of Inventions.

The Center has participated in the preparation of several industry standards, including Phase-Change Energy Storage Materials and Components for Floor Heating, Technical Specification for Phase-Change Heat-Storage Floor-Heating Engineering, and Test Methods for the Thermal Storage Performance of Phase-Change Materials for Buildings.

The Center has also taken the lead in establishing the Technical Committee on Underground Energy Structures and Engineering under the Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering. It regularly organizes the National Symposium on Underground Energy Structures and Engineering, which has developed into an influential platform for academic exchange and collaboration within the field.