Cundall Hong Kong Associate Chris Leung will be showcasing APAC multidisciplinary engineering excellence on the world stage when he presents at the ASHRAE Annual Conference in Toronto. The international event from 25-29 June 2022 will have attendees from around the world for both in-person and hybrid livestreamed presentations.
Leung is presenting three expert peer-reviewed manuscripts in person, which he says will be a welcome opportunity to share ideas with other building services practitioners after more than two years of pandemic.
"From a technical perspective, this has also given the mechanical services profession an impetus to research and implement improved design and operational approaches that deliver on both energy-efficiency and optimising occupant wellbeing.”
Leung’s manuscripts include an examination of unorthodox placement of cooling towers in Hong Kong’s commercial buildings, which are dominated by high-rise assets with a premium price for lettable area. This scenario is one of the factors that constrains spatial planning for plant location, and results in specific operational challenges noted in Leung’s paper. He also highlights some of the lessons gained from recent project work rectifying some of the common building performance issues resulting from sub-optimal design and operational decisions.
With an eye towards the state of the profession, another manuscript explores the role, meaning and underlying philosophy of engineering as it has evolved over generations and the impact and limitations of it today.
The third manuscript discusses sea water cooling systems and district cooling systems, and the technical considerations for masterplanning. This addresses some of the myths and misconceptions of such systems and the wider ecological impact
"Hong Kong is a fascinating living laboratory for a mechanical engineer,” Leung says. “With our dense built environment, resource constraints in relation to potable water and limited opportunities for expanding low-carbon energy generation, we have an enormous opportunity to demonstrate how small design and operational decisions can have major positive impacts when scaled across the built environment.
"That for me is exactly what engineering is about – to plant a tree for fruits the future generations can enjoy”
