A paper led by Dr. Yulu Chen and co-authored by Prof. Akihito Ozaki, Dr. Haksung Lee, and Prof. Zao Li has been selected for the 2025 Best Paper Award by the international journal Building and Environment.

The awarded paper, Experimental and numerical investigation of a roof-integrated solar heating and humidity control system, was published in Building and Environment, Volume 287, Part A (January 2026).

Building and Environment is a leading journal in building and environmental engineering. The Best Paper Award is granted to only five papers selected from approximately 10,000 submissions, and all co-authors are honored by this recognition.

The study proposes a roof-integrated solar heat collection and humidity control (SCHC) system that combines solar-driven air convection with porous hygrothermal materials to enable both sensible and latent heat gain during winter. By introducing water potential as the driving force for moisture transfer in numerical simulations, the research enables more accurate coupled heat- and moisture-transfer modeling.

Field experiments and numerical analyses showed that buildings equipped with the proposed system achieved higher indoor temperatures and humidity levels than conventional buildings, demonstrating improved winter thermal comfort and reduced HVAC energy demand.

Dr. Yulu Chen was supported by the Q-ENERGY Fellowship during her graduate studies at Kyushu University. This achievement highlights the fellowship’s impact in fostering high-quality international research and supporting outstanding young researchers. We are very proud of Dr. Chen’s accomplishments and congratulate her on this prestigious recognition.