Dr. Jun Zha, Chief Planner of East China Architectural Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd. (ECADI), is a professor-level senior engineer specializing in urban design, urban regeneration, and holistic planning implementation. As a certified urban planner and consultant, he holds key positions including Secretary-General of the Committee on Three-Dimensional Cities and Composite Architecture of the Architectural Society of China, Deputy Director of the Urban Design Branch of the Shanghai Architectural Society, and Executive Council Member of the Underground Space Division of the Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering. He also serves as a review expert for scientific and technological talents under the China Association for Science and Technology and as an evaluation expert for Shanghai’s Green Ecological Urban Districts. Additionally, He has won over 70 domestic and international professional awards, published more than 40 academic papers, and edited several influential publications, such as “From Planning to Construction Management: Design Guidelines for Green Urban Development”, “Urban Regeneration in High-Density Central Cities”, “The Last Mile of Urban Renewal”, “Low-carbon City and New-type Urbanization”

Yan Ge has long been deeply involved in planning research and practice, specializing in urban renewal, urban design, historical landscape protection, and detailed planning. She has led and participated in more than 20 planning and design projects that have received awards at or above the provincial and ministerial level. These include the first prize of National Excellent Urban and Rural Planning and Design, the first prize of National Engineering Consulting Achievement, the first prize of Shanghai Excellent Urban and Rural Planning and Design, the first prize of Shanghai Decision Consulting Achievement, the second prize of the Huaxia Construction Science and Technology Award, and the third prize of the China Planning Science and Technology Progress Award.

Dr. Zhongming Shi is the Product Lead of the City Energy Analyst (CEA), one of the first open-source urban building energy modelling platforms supporting low-carbon urban design. At ETH Zurich, he also teaches the studio-based course Integrated Design Project, which bridges urban design with decarbonisation strategies. Recent studio topics include the densification of Zurich’s Altstetten and the regeneration of the former Shanghai Expo site.

Zhongming completed his PhD with Prof. Arno Schlueter at ETH Zurich’s Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore. He previously led a research project on building-integrated agriculture in collaboration with the National University of Singapore, and is currently leading a new project on decarbonising Chinese cities in partnership with Tongji University.

Mathias Niffler specialises in urban energy systems, AI-driven analytics, and geospatial modelling. He’s been part of the CEA Team since 2022. He works on improving CEA’s energy supply features. Before joining UUEN, he was working as a researcher for the Project of Cooling Singapore 2.0 at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore.

Dr.Cheney Chen is a Senior Engineer and Senior Associate at Perkins&Will’s Vancouver studio, where he also leads building performance research initiatives. With a dual background in architecture and building science, Cheney brings deep expertise in building performance modeling, Passive House, and regenerative design. His work spans a wide range of projects across Canada, the U.S., Europe, and Asia, integrating over a decade of hands-on industry experience with cutting-edge research in green building and energy efficiency. As a licensed Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) with Engineers and Geoscientists BC, Cheney holds multiple advanced credentials, including ASHRAE BEMP, Certified Passive House Designer (CPHD), RESET AP, and LEED AP BD+C. He is an active contributor to the advancement of energy- and carbon-focused building codes, serving on several technical committees at both regional and international levels.

Prof. Francesco Causone is an Associate Professor at the Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano. He holds a Master’s in Architecture, a PhD in Technical Innovation for the Built Environment, and is a LEED AP. He received the REHVA Young Scientist Award in 2012. He worked as a Sustainability Researcher at Foster + Partners in London and has led several European research projects on energy and housing. He has published over 60 papers on building energy and comfort.