The major in Building Environment and Energy Application Engineering began nurturing talents in the field of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) in 1960, based on the Industrial and Civil Building major. In 1989, it was one of the earliest institutions in Anhui Province to establish a major in HVAC and a specialized HVAC program. In 1998, the Department of Building Environment and Technology Engineering was established. In 2002, undergraduate students in Building Environment and Equipment Engineering were admitted. In 2006, the department started enrolling master's students in Heating, Gas Supply, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Engineering. In 2010, it was granted the authority to award doctoral degrees in the primary discipline of Civil Engineering, with a secondary discipline in Heating, Gas Supply, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Engineering.

This major serves as a comprehensive reform pilot program in Anhui Province and is one of the first batch of programs in the Six Excellence and One Superiority 2.0 pilot plan. It successfully passed the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development's professional assessment and certification in 2017 and its midterm inspection in 2019.

The major has a reasonable number and structure of faculty members. In recent years, they have recruited 3 distinguished professors and 6 doctoral degree holders from renowned domestic and international universities. The department currently has 14 full-time teachers, with 50% holding the titles of professor or associate professor, and 64% possessing doctoral degrees. All faculty members hold master's degrees or higher qualifications, and five have obtained a professional license for HVAC and public utilities equipment. They have authored or co-authored 6 professional textbooks, received 8 awards at the provincial or ministerial level, and undertaken over 20 national, provincial, or ministerial-level teaching and research projects in the past three years. This includes National Key R&D Projects, National Natural Science Foundation Projects, Anhui Provincial Key R&D Projects, Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation Projects, Anhui Provincial Quality Engineering Projects, and Ministry of Education collaborative education projects. They have also been granted 16 patents for invention and published over 100 academic and educational reform papers.

The department possesses seven national and provincial-level teaching and research platforms and 16 university-enterprise cooperative practice teaching bases. It has over 7,000 square meters of basic laboratories and approximately 700 square meters of specialized laboratories, which includes a 300-square-meter BIM (Building Information Modeling) Laboratory. Their fixed assets for laboratory equipment amount to over 5 million RMB, with 310 pieces of experimental instruments and equipment. The specialized information room contains over 10,000 volumes of professional materials, including books, standard drawings, and design specifications, serving as various references for professional course teaching, course design, and graduation projects.

The major focuses on the Three-Pronged Education System, which includes moral education, competency-based education, and innovation and entrepreneurship education. It has established a multi-subject collaborative education mechanism. The program emphasizes the New Engineering Requirements for Engineering Education, enhances interdisciplinary subjects, explores the transformation and upgrade of traditional engineering majors, and strengthens talent cultivation with a focus on Foundations of Great Engineering, Intelligent Green Environment Building, and Comprehensive Application of Clean Energy.

Employment and further education outcomes have steadily improved. Over the past three years, the cumulative employment rate for graduates of this major exceeded 97%. Approximately 30% of graduates pursued further education, including master's or international study opportunities. Several students have been recognized as Excellent Graduates of Anhui Province and Excellent Graduates of the university. Additionally, many outstanding alumni have taken up positions as corporate executives, university teachers, and political leaders.

In the field of research, the major's primary research areas include:

1. HVAC Systems and Equipment: Research focuses on improving the efficiency of HVAC equipment (units, terminal devices, heat exchangers) and energy-saving design for HVAC systems.

2. New Energy Utilization and Safety: Research is conducted on the application and system safety of new energy sources, including solar energy, geothermal heat pumps, hydrogen energy, and gas technology in buildings. This includes research on hydrogen production from solar energy, thermal and hydrogen storage, etc.

3. Zero Carbon Buildings and Regional Energy: Research is centered on the optimization design and intelligent application of low-carbon and zero-carbon technologies in individual buildings and regional energy systems.

4. Building Indoor and Outdoor Environment and Pollution Control: Research is carried out on the diffusion mechanisms, exposure risks, and control strategies for gaseous pollutants and hazardous chemicals in building environments.

Leadership:

- Director: Wei He

- Branch Secretary: Xianghua Liu