To showcase the milestones of HKUST X SOCAM Joint Research & Development Project "BIPV for Smart Low-carbon MiC Public Housing", a series of site visits with demonstrations were held at the SOCAM Ping Che Center in July 2024 with the witness of representatives from the Division of Integrative Systems and Design (ISD), industry, public sectors, and professional organizations.

This is an interdisciplinary project led by Prof. XIANG Changying, ISD Assistant Professor and Director of Zero Carbon Architecture and Future City, in collaboration with and sponsorship by SOCAM, with the aim of providing greener, smarter, and more sustainable construction solutions.

It is the first time that Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) systems are integrated with MiC public residential housing units, covering disciplines such as architecture, building engineering, PV technology, and material science. The visitors were introduced to cutting-edge technologies inside the BIPV X MiC mockup, including advanced claddings design, wireless building monitoring systems, electricity-free cooling paint, and battery energy storage systems.

The site visits were a testament to the first successful attempt in incorporating the two technologies BIPV and MiC in public residential housing unit construction, as well as fruitful collaboration between academia and industry that can benefit the wider community.