Department of Building Service Engineering

Professor Francis W H Yik (易偉雄)

Department of Building Services Engineering
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hunghom, Kowloon
Hong Kong SAR
China

Tel: (852) 2766 5841, Fax: (852) 2774 6146
E-mail: bewhyik@polyu.edu.hk

Brief Career History

Once graduated from the HK Polytechnic in 1978 with a Higher Diploma in Mechanical Engineering (with Distinction), Francis Yik was admitted into the 2nd year of the BSc(Eng) degree programme in mechanical engineering at the University of HK (HKU). He completed the BSc programme and began his professional career in 1980, as an Assistant Engineer with a leading local building services consulting firm at that time, which marked the beginning of his career in the building services engineering (BSE) discipline. He acquired membership with CIBSE, HKIE and IMechE within his first 4 to 6 years of professional practice. He was Senior Project Engineer when he moved on to his next stage of career development in 1987.

Francis began interested in academic work while he undertook part-time evening teaching on Thermofluids for the mechanical engineering higher certificate programme of the HK Polytechnic and studied part-time for his master degree in mechanical engineering at HKU. The academic and professional qualifications and experience he acquired qualified him for appointment as a Lecturer with the BSE Department of the HK Polytechnic in 1987. He embarked on part-time PhD studies in 1989, registered at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle, completed his PhD thesis in 1993, and was conferred the doctorate degree in the same year. Francis has become a Professor in the BSE Department of The HK Polytechnic University (PolyU) since 1999.

External appointments and other activities

Over the years, Francis has held various external appointments, such as:

Member of a series of working groups for: drafting the Air-conditioning Energy Efficiency Code of Practice; implementation of Building Energy Efficiency Codes; and reviewing implementation of Building Energy Efficiency Codes for the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, The Hong Kong SAR Government (1997 – 2003).
Visiting Professor of the School of Built Environment, University of Northumbria at Newcastle, UK (2000 – 2003).
Member of Expert Panel to advise the Buildings Department on the energy performance assessment method in the Comprehensive Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme (CEPAS) (2006).
Member of the Working Group on building environmental performance assessment schemes under the Provisional Construction Industry Co-ordination Board (PCICB), for formulating recommends to PCICB on the way forward for CEPAS and HK-BEAM (2006 – 2007).
External Academic Advisor for the Associate Degree in Building Services Engineering of the Division of Building Science and Technology, City University of Hong Kong (2000 – 2007).

His current external appointments include:

Associate Editor of International Journal on Architectural Science (2000 –).
Member of the International Advisory Board of Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, UK (2001 –).
Editor (Mechanical) of Transactions of Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (2007 –).
Member of Appeal Tribunal Panel (Section 45 of Buildings Ordinance (Cap.123)), Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau, the Hong Kong SAR Government (2007 – 2009).
Associate Editor of Indoor and Built Environment (2008 –).
Member of the Taskforce on Mandatory Implementation of Building Energy Codes, Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, The Hong Kong SAR Government (2008 –).

He also regularly serves as a referee for papers submitted to the following academic journals, and as organizing committee member and paper referee for conferences.

Automation in Construction

Building and Environment
Building Research and Information
Building Services Engineering Research and Technology
Construction Management and Economics
Energy and Buildings
Indoor and Built Environment

Completed research and consultancy work

Since completion of his PhD studies, Francis has been actively conducting research into modelling and assessment of building energy and air-conditioning system performance as well as undertaking consultancy projects on a variety of topics.

In recognition of the paper entitled “Chilled-water cooling and dehumidifying coils with corrugated plate fins: Modelling method”, published in Building Services Engineering Research and Technology in 1997, he and his co-authors were awarded the Dufton Silver Medal by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) in the UK.

The following lists a number of key research and consultancy projects that Francis completed over the years:

Field measurement and evaluation studies on ventilation of semi-enclosed public transport interchanges for the Environmental Protection Department of the Hong Kong Government (1994; consultancy project).
Condensation risk assessments for indoor ice skating rinks for Swire Properties Ltd. (1995, 1996, 2001; 3 consultancy projects).
Development of the building energy performance assessment method under HK-BEAM (since 1995; consultancy projects for HK-BEAM Society). HK-BEAM, the Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method, is a private-sector, voluntary building environmental assessment scheme. It initially covered only new and existing air-conditioned offices in commercial buildings but has been expanded to embrace high-rise residential buildings and more recently new and existing buildings of various types, including building complexes.
Survey of energy end-uses in commercial buildings for the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department of the Hong Kong Government for the development of an energy end-use database for Hong Kong (1996-97; consultancy project; lead consultant: SRCI, Australia).
Prediction of the potential energy saving through widening application of water-cooled air-conditioning systems (including district cooling systems) in Hong Kong for the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government (1998-99; consultancy project; lead consultant: Scott Wilson (HK) Ltd.).
Field measurement and computer simulation studies on the isolation performance of air-borne infection isolation rooms in hospitals for the Hospital Authority, Architectural Services Department and Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (1999, 2000, 2006-07; 3 consultancy projects).
Development of life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) methods, as well as a computer program complete with the required databases, for evaluating commercial buildings in Hong Kong for the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government (2003-05; lead consultant: Ove Arup and Partners).
Research studies on facade engineering for enhancing energy performance and sustainability of public housing for the Hong Kong Housing Authority (2003-05; externally funded research project obtained through open bidding, with inputs from Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, UK).

Additionally, Francis has developed computer programs for building design cooling load (HKDLC) and OTTV (OTTVCAL) calculations and for air-conditioning plant energy use predictions (BECON and BECRES respectively for commercial and residential buildings). These programs are being extensively used by students in his Department for project works while BECON has also been used as a standard tool for building energy performance assessment under HK-BEAM.

Being a deliverable of a consultancy project, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) owns the copyright of the LCA and LCC program which Francis developed. However, EMSD has made the program publicly available, as an enabling tool for promoting sustainable building development in Hong Kong. Besides routines for calculating the life cycle impacts and costs incurred by consumption of resources for producing, transporting, constructing and replacing building components and services systems, the program includes a set of building energy and air-conditioning plant simulation modules such that the energy use in a building and the environmental impacts so incurred can also be accurately accounted for in the LCA and LCC evaluation, which is a unique feature unavailable in all other LCA programs available worldwide.

Besides research and consultancy project reports and articles in academic journals and conferences, much of his knowledge and research outcomes in the area of building energy simulation have been written into a book entitled Modelling Methods for Energy in Buildings, which Francis co-authored with Professor Chris Underwood. The book targeted at professionals and researchers in the field and was published by Blackwell Science in 2004.

Current research work

Francis reckons that realizing improvement of energy and environmental performance of buildings is not hindered by a lack of effective technologies. Rather, the critical issue lies in whether designers, contractors and operation and maintenance (O&M) practitioners are well equipped with the required knowledge and skills to understand, evaluate and apply such technologies. Furthermore, appropriate policy instruments, such as regulatory controls, taxation, rebate, labelling or voluntary assessment schemes are needed to help realize substantial changes. Therefore, he has ventured into socio-economic studies so as to widen his research to embrace institutional and economic means for improving building energy performance; project and contract management issues in building development projects, especially on mechanisms that govern the performance of designers and contractors; and building services O&M. The major outcomes he accomplished so far include:

Published in HKIE Transactions in 2002 a paper entitled “A preliminary inquiry into why buildings remain energy inefficient and the potential remedy”, which clearly pointed out that information, motivation and financial barriers are the major hindrances to improving energy performance of buildings, giving rise to the so called ‘energy efficiency gap’, and provided a roadmap for research for tackling the problems. Much of his current research still falls within the framework set in this paper.
Based on survey findings, showed in a paper entitled “Building energy efficiency and the remunerations of operation and maintenance personnel”, published in Facilities in 2002, that to building owners, making investments into enhancing the knowledge and skills of O&M personnel can lead to highly substantial returns from savings in building energy costs, whereas to individual O&M practitioners, their income growth is determined by the improvement in their knowledge and skills throughout their career. These findings had also been presented to members of the Building Services Operation and Maintenance Executives Society in an invited speech during their annual dinner on 9 Jan. 2003.
Based on economic principles, pointed out in a paper entitled “Partnership in building energy performance contracting”, published in Building Research and Information in 2004, the potential pitfalls of traditional energy performance contracts and proposed the use of a partnership firm formed jointly by the building owner and the energy services company to assume the role of the energy performance contactor, which will help circumvent the problems.
By invitation, co-authored with his PhD graduate and colleague, Dr. WL Lee, a review paper entitled “Regulatory and voluntary approaches for enhancing building energy efficiency”, published in Progress in Energy and Combustion Science in 2004. Besides a comprehensive review of the various regulatory and voluntary approaches adopted worldwide for building energy efficiency enhancement, the paper pointed out that well-articulated regulatory control and voluntary assessment will augment each other and help reduce transaction costs associated with implementation of the policy.
Published in Energy in 2005 (jointly with his PhD graduate, Dr. KSY Wan) the article “An evaluation of the appropriateness of using overall thermal transfer value (OTTV) to regulate envelope energy performance of air-conditioned buildings”, which shows the weaknesses of OTTV as a measure of energy performance of building envelopes and advocates abandonment of its use for regulatory control.
Published in Building and Environment in 2005 the article “Rebate as an economic instrument for promoting energy efficiency”, in which the principle for determining optimal rebate rates was elucidated and the effectiveness of the demand side management programmes implemented in Hong Kong was evaluated.
Based on transaction cost economics, explained the recent trend of outsourcing for O&M services for buildings in Hong Kong and the implications to the O&M trade, in the paper “The trend of outsourcing for building operation and maintenance in Hong Kong”, published in Facilities in 2005.
Through open bidding, won external funding support from the Construction Industry Institute, Hong Kong (CII-HK) for a research project on best practices in managing specialist subcontracting performance, which has been successfully completed (2005-06 as Principle Investigator). Besides unveiling the impacts of the intrinsic characteristics of specialist works and the use of subcontracting for their procurement, the study reviewed the effectiveness of the Voluntary Subcontractors Registration Scheme and the Construction Worker Registration Ordinance, and the need for a security of payment legislation in Hong Kong. A paper based on this study, entitled “Problems with specialist subcontracting in the construction industry”, has been published in Building Services Engineering Research and Technology in 2006.
Completed a research project on multilayer subcontracting practices for building services installations in Hong Kong, with internal funding support from PolyU (2005-06 as Principle Investigator). Based on findings from interviews with different actors, a portrait was assembled to show the workings of the multi-layer subcontracting system in the Hong Kong construction industry, and unveil its positive and negative effects. The findings have been reported in a paper, which will appear in International Journal of Project Management.
Considering that scrutiny of building services designers’ performance should be more stringent in a design and build (DB) project than in a conventional project, conducted a study on governance of performance of building services designers in DB contracts, as a precursor to a more extensive study on the designer performance governance issues. The work unveiled the key factors that are conducive to better performance of designers in DB contracts, which can inform how designers’ performance may be enhanced in building projects procured through other methods. The findings has been presented in the conference for celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the journal Construction Management and Economics, in July 2007.
Through open bidding, won external funding support from the Building Services Division of Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) for a research study on Hong Kong’s building services profession with a view to enhance future roles and functions of Hong Kong’s professional building services engineers in society, which has commenced since Sept, 2007 (2007-08 as Principle Investigator). The project involves international collaboration with study teams from University of Northumbria at Newcastle, National University of Singapore and Tongji University.

His research studies on the economic aspects of environmental and energy performance of buildings equipped Francis well for the development and teaching of the final year elective subject Environmental Economics and Policy in the BEng programme, and for taking up teaching on the economics part of the subject Economics for Facility Management in the MSc programme in Facility Management.

Selected publications

A. Heat and moisture transfer in buildings

Yik FWH (1991). Dynamic modelling of indoor air humidity. In: Proc. Building Simulation Conference 91, The International Building Performance Simulation Association, Nice France, August 1991, 42-48.
Yik FWH (1993). A differential permeability model for simulating building heat and moisture transfer. In Proc. CLIMA 2000, London, November 1993 (Paper No. 65), The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers.
Yik FWH, Underwood CP, Chow WK (1995). Simultaneous modelling of heat and moisture transfer and air-conditioning system in buildings. In Proc. Building Simulation '95 Conference, p.14-21, Madison, Wisconsin, August 14-16, 1995, The International Building Performance Simulation Association.
Yik FWH (1996). Condensation risk assessment for an indoor ice skating rink. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Vol.17, No.3, p.119-126.
Yik FWH, Chau CK (2002). Moisture permeability measurement using a surface air dew-point probe: A feasibility study. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Vol.23, No.1, p.7-18.
Yik FWH, Sat PSK, Niu JL (2004). Moisture generation through Chinese household activities. Indoor and Built Environment, Vol.13, No.2, p.115-131.

B. Air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation system performance simulation and analysis

Yik FWH, Yiu J, Burnett J (1995). Air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation design for queuing enclosures in a bus terminus. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Vol.16, No.1, p.9-16.
Yik FWH (1995). Sensor location for variable-volume-flow control at the secondary chilled water distribution loop. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Vol.16, No.1, p.59-62.
Yik FWH, Burnett J (1995). An experience of energy auditing on a central air-conditioning plant in Hong Kong. Energy Engineering, Vol.92, No.2, p.6-30.
Yik FWH, Burnett J, Chang HL (1995). Thermal performance lines of chiller plants of two institutional buildings in Hong Kong. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Vol.16, No.4, p.169-178.
Yik FWH, Underwood CP, Chow WK (1997). Chilled-water cooling and dehumidifying coils with corrugated plate fins: Modelling method. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Vol.18, No.1, p.47-58. (This paper won the Dufton Silver Medal awarded by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, UK in October 1997.) Yik FWH, Lam VKC (1998). Chiller models for plant design studies. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Vol.19, No.4, p.233-241.
Yik FWH, Chiu TW (1998). Measuring instruments in chiller plants and uncertainties in performance evaluation. Transactions, Vol.5, No.3, p.95-99. HK: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Yik FWH, Burnett J (1998). BECON: A program for predicting building energy consumption for air-conditioning buildings. Transactions, Vol.5, No.3, p.89-94. HK: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Yik FWH (1999). Selection of control valves for air-conditioning systems. Transactions, Vol.6, No.2, p.11-18. HK: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Yik FWH, Lee WL, Burnett J, Jones P (1999). Chiller plant sizing by cooling load simulation as a means to avoid oversized plant. Transactions, Vol.6, No.2, p.19-25. HK: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Yik FWH (2001). Analyses of operations of control valves in air-conditioning systems comprising multiple chillers and chilled water pumps. Transactions, Vol.8, No.3, p.51-57. HK: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Yik FWH, Sat PSK (2001). Climatic variable for constructing thermal performance lines for air-conditioned commercial buildings in Hong Kong. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Vol.22, No.4, p.219-236.
Yik FWH, Burnett J, Prescott I (2001). Predicting air-conditioning energy consumption of a group of buildings using different heat rejection methods. Energy and Buildings, Vol.33, No.2, p.151-166.
Yik FWH, Burnett J, Prescott I (2001). A study on the energy performance of three schemes for widening application of water-cooled air-conditioning systems in Hong Kong. Energy and Buildings, Vol.33, No.2, p.167-182.
Yik FWH, Powell G (2003). Review of isolation ward ventilation design and evaluation by simulation. Indoor and Built Environment, Vol.12, No.1, p.73-79.
Yik FWH, Lo TY, Burnett J (2003). Wind data for natural ventilation design in Hong Kong. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Vol.24, No.2, p.125-136.
Chen H, Lee WL, Yik FWH (2008). Applying water-cooled air-conditioners in residential buildings in Hong Kong. Energy Conversion and Management, Vol.X, No.Y, p.xx-yy (accepted for publication).
Yik FWH (2008). Chilled water circuit designs for in-situ chiller performance measurement. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Vol.X, No.Y, p.xxx-yyy (accepted for publication).

C. Building energy performance audit, simulation and assessment

Yik FWH, Chan KT (1995). Energy performance criteria for commercial buildings in Hong Kong: An alternative to OTTV. Transactions, Vol.2, No.1, p.17-22. HK: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Yik FWH, Burnett J, Jones P, Lee WL (1998). Energy performance criteria in the Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method. Energy and Buildings, Vol.27, No. 2, p.207-219.
Yik FWH, Yee KF, Sat PSK, Chan C (1998). A detailed energy audit for a commercial office building in Hong Kong. Transactions, Vol.5, No.3, p.84-88. HK: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Yik FWH, Wan KSY, Burnett J (2000). Assessment of envelope energy performance in HK-BEAM for residential buildings. Transactions, Vol.7, No.2, p.49-55. HK: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Lee WL, Yik FWH, Burnett J (2001). Simplifying energy performance assessment in the Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Vol.22, No.2, p.113-132.
Yik FWH, Edmunds K, Chan CWH (2001). Building energy efficiency assessments in Hong Kong and the way forward. Transactions, Vol.8, No.2, p.33-39. HK: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Yik FWH, Chan KT, Lee WL, Sat PSK (2001). Establishing energy consumption benchmarks for commercial complexes in Hong Kong. Transactions, Vol.8, No.2, p.40-47. HK: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Lee WL, Yik FWH, Jones P, Burnett J (2001). Energy saving by realistic design data for commercial buildings in Hong Kong. Applied Energy, Vol.70, No.1, p.59-75.
Bojic M, Yik F, Sat P (2001). Influence of thermal insulation position in building envelope on the space cooling of high-rise residential buildings in Hong Kong. Energy and Buildings, Vol.33, No.6, p.569-581.
Yik FWH, Lee WL (2002). A preliminary inquiry into why buildings remain energy inefficient and the potential remedy. Transactions, Vol.9, No.1, p.32-36. HK: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Lee WL, Yik FWH (2002). Regulatory and voluntary approaches for enhancing energy efficiency of buildings in Hong Kong. Applied Energy, Vol.71, No.4, p.251-274.
Lee WL, Chau CK, Yik FWH, Burnett J and Tse MS (2002). On the study of credit weighting scale in an environmental assessment scheme. Building and Environment, Vol.37, No.12, p.1385-96.
Lee WL, Yik FWH (2002). Framework for formulating a performance-based incentive-rebate scale for the demand-side-management scheme for commercial buildings in Hong Kong. Applied Energy, Vol.73, No.2, p.139-166.
Yik FWH, Chan KT, Lee WL, Wong WH (2002). The key issues to the development of a performance-based building energy code for Hong Kong. Transactions, Vol.9, No.3, p.50-55. HK: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Lee WL, Yik FWH, Jones P (2003). A strategy for prioritising interactive measures for enhancing energy efficiency of air-conditioned buildings. Energy, Vol.28, No.8, p.877-983.
Sat PSK, Yik FWH (2003). Comparison of predictions of the building energy simulation programs HTB2 and BECON with metered building energy data. Transactions, Vol.10, No.3, p.34-47. HK: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Lee WL, Yik FWH, Burnett J (2003). A method to assess the energy performance of existing commercial complexes, Indoor and Built Environment, Vol.12, No.5, p.311-327.
Wan KSY, Yik FWH (2004). Representative building design and internal load patterns for modelling energy use in residential buildings in Hong Kong. Applied Energy, 77, No.1, p.69-85.
Wan KSY, Yik FWH (2004). Building design and energy end-use characteristics of high-rise residential buildings in Hong Kong. Applied Energy, Vol.78, No.1, p.19-36.
Lee WL, Yik FWH (2004). Regulatory and voluntary approaches for enhancing building energy efficiency. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, Vol.30, No.5, p.477-499.
(A review article by invitation; Impact factor of the Journal: 3.371 (ISI Journal Citation Reports, as at July 2006).) Yik FWH, Wan KSY (2005). An evaluation of the appropriateness of using overall thermal transfer value (OTTV) to regulate envelope energy performance of air-conditioned buildings. Energy, Vol.30, No.1, p.41-71.
Yik FWH, Lee WL (2005). Rebate as an economic instrument for promoting energy efficiency. Building and Environment, Vol.40, No.9, p.1207-1216.
Lee WL, Yik FWH, Burnett J (2007). Assessing energy performance in the latest versions of Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method (HK-BEAM). Energy and Buildings, Vol.39, No.3, p.343-354.

D. Building services procurement and operation & maintenance practices

Yik FWH, Lee WL, Ng CK (2002). Building energy efficiency and the remunerations of operation and maintenance personnel. Facilities, Vol.20, No.13/14, p.406-413.
Lai JHK, Yik FWH (2004). Law and building services maintenance in Hong Kong. Transactions, Vol.11, No.1, p.7-14. HK: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
Lai JHK, Yik FWH, Jones P (2004). Disputes arising from vaguely defined contractual responsibilities in building services maintenance contracts. Facilities, Vol.22, No.1/2, p.44-52.
Yik FWH, Lee WL (2004). Partnership in building energy performance contracting. Building Research and Information, Vol.32, No.3, p.235-243.
Yik FWH, Lai JHK (2005). The trend of outsourcing for building services operation and maintenance in Hong Kong. Facilities, Vol.23, No.1/2, p.63-72.
Lai JHK, Yik FWH (2006). Knowledge and perception of operation and maintenance practitioners in Hong Kong about sustainable buildings. Facilities, Vol.24, No.3/4, p.90-105.
Lai JHK, Yik FWH, Jones P (2006). Critical contractual issues of outsourced operation and maintenance work for commercial buildings. International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol.17, No.4, p.320-343.
Yik FWH, Lai JHK, Chan KT, Yiu ECY (2006). Problems with specialist subcontracting in the construction industry. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Vol. 23, No.3, p.183-193.
(Will be reprinted in a book entitled “Subcontracting: A New Production Opportunity for SMEs” by ICFAI Research Centre, Kolkata, India.) Lai JHK, Yik FWH (2007). Monitoring building operation and maintenance contracts. Facilities, Vol.25, No.5/6, p.238-251.
Yik FWH, Lai JHK (2007). Multilayer subcontracting of specialist works in buildings in Hong Kong. International Journal of Project Management, Vol.26, No.2, p.xxx-yyy (now available on line).
Yik FWH, Lai JHK (2007). Governance of performance of building services designers in design and build contracts. CME25: Construction Management and Economics – Past, Present and Future, 16-18 July 2007, University of Reading, UK.
Yik F, Chan KT, Chau CK, Lee WL, Lai J (2008). Influential factors to the recognition enjoyed by building services engineers. Hong Kong Engineers, Vol.36, No.1, p.16-18.

Last updated 19-May-2008