International Joint Laboratory on Low Carbon Built Environment of the Ministry of Education

Brief Introduction

I. Overview

The International Joint Laboratory on Low Carbon Built Environment was officially established in 2023 with approval from the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. The laboratory was jointly founded in partnership with leading international institutions, including Umeå University (Sweden) and Aalto University (Finland), both widely recognized for their research in underground environments, low-carbon built environments, and building energy technologies.

II. Director of the Joint Laboratory

² Professor Angui Li (Head of the Research Institution of Deep Underground Space Environment, China)

² Professor Thomas Olofsson (Vice president of Umea University, Sweden)

III. Core Research Areas

² Low Carbon Development for Normal Built Environments: Advancing Attachment Ventilation theory and low-carbon HVAC distribution technologies to support sustainable built environments.

² Safety and Resilience in Extreme/Catastrophic Environments: Advancing life-safety control theories and developing critical technologies and equipment to enhance safety in extreme and specialized environments..

² Intelligent Environmental Control for Underground Spaces: Developing intelligent technologies and optimized environmental control strategies to address the complex environmental challenges of underground spaces.

IV. Research Team

Professor Angui Li, the Chinese Director of the Joint Laboratory, is a recipient of national-level talent titles, and the leading person of a national first-class major. He has been consecutively listed among the World’s Top 2% Scientists in both the Career-Long Impact and Annual Impact rankings released by Stanford University and Elsevier, and is also recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher in China by Elsevier. He has dedicated his career to research and education in advanced ventilation and underground space environmental control. As PI and first winner, he has won two Second Prizes of the National Technological Invention Award, 14 provincial- and ministerial-level Science and Technology Awards, as well as the Innovation Award of the World Sustainable Energy Technology Association (WSSET), etc.

The laboratory team has been granted National Huang Danian-style Teacher Team in Underground Space Environmental Control. The team has led over 100 research projects, including the National Key R&D Program, projects of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the NSFC, and national major projects. The team has been conducting long-term research on low-carbon development of normal underground environments and life-safety control in extreme/catastrophic underground space environments. The developed theories and technologies have successfully addressed environmental control challenges of a series of enclosed and large spaces, such as floating offshore nuclear power plants, Xiong'an High-Speed Railway Station, Xi’an International Airport Terminal 5, providing key technical supporting for major national infrastructure. Additionally, attachment ventilation have been selected for the 2025 National Catalog of Key Promoted Low-Carbon Technologies, jointly issued by five ministries and commissions of China. The team is currently undertaking the environmental control research for the ultra-large and complex underground spaces of the world's largest hydropower project, etc.

V. Laboratory Operation Mechanism and International Cooperation

The Joint Laboratory operates under the principles of openness, mobility, collaboration and competition, and is committed to building a world-class, internationally oriented research platform for underground environments. The laboratory led the establishment of the International Joint Research Center for Building Equipment Science and Underground Space Environment, recognized as a Shaanxi Provincial International Cooperation Base. It also co-founded the China-Nordic International Research Center for Indoor Environment and Energy in collaboration with leading scholars from Denmark, Sweden, Finland and other countries. The laboratory has successfully hosted many important international academic conferences, including ROOMVENT and ISHVAC. It has developed a comprehensive global collaboration network supporting research innovation, technology development, talent cultivation and academic exchanges in the fields of built environment and underground space environment. The laboratory maintains long-term strategic partnerships with globally recognized universities, research institutions, and partners across Belt and Road regions.

VI. Contact Information

Dr. Dingmeng Wu Tel: +86 181 4920 7382

Ms. Jinrong Guo Tel: +86 187 0019 0390

Address: Room 104, Jianke Building, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, No. 13 Yanta Road, Xi’an, 710055, Shaanxi, China

Email: cbe@xauat.edu.cn