To celebrate the 65th anniversary of undergraduate education at Guangdong University of Technology and create a favorable academic atmosphere within the institution, a special lecture was held on the evening of November 10th at 19:00. Dr. Daniel Hii Jun Chung, Ph.D. in Engineering from the National University of Singapore, was invited to deliver a lecture titled "Navigating the Built Environment to the Future: Sustainability, Wellness & Productivity/Automation" in an online format. The lecture was hosted by Dr. Deng Jiyu, and nearly a hundred participants, including faculty representatives, graduate students, and undergraduate students, joined both online and offline.

Dr. Hii addressed various issues arising from the rapid development of urbanization, such as Urban Heat Island (UHI), and shared insights and reflections on the impact of current smart building technologies and passive methods like solar panels and indoor greenery.

Firstly, Dr. Hii introduced KaTRIS, an architecture and real estate company based in Tokyo, and shared his practical experience with the futuristic 6-story building called THE GEAR (smart building). He provided detailed information on the building's location and design concept.

Next, Dr. Hii delved into the specific design principles of THE GEAR, discussing energy-saving measures such as the Solar PV Roof, indoor planting, and a Hybrid cooling system that incorporates natural ventilation and fans. He also highlighted innovative construction aspects, including the use of AR/VR visualization to enhance the building's interior richness and the application of robots in construction.

Finally, Dr. Hii shared his outlook on the future of smart buildings and urban planning. After the lecture, a discussion was held with faculty and students on guiding the built environment towards the future. In response to questions about the most challenging aspects and technological hurdles in creating smart buildings or even smart cities, Dr. Hii emphasized the need to synchronize data collected from different machines, monitor the performance of servers and cloud data processing, and stay updated on emerging technologies applied in construction. He encouraged a focus on incorporating new technologies into buildings and applying them in the current context.