A Progress Update and History of IBE; Plus Papers of the Year, 2012

Abstract

I begin this editorial by introducing to you a talented young lady whom I met when I was attending the ‘‘Healthy Buildings 2012’’ conference held on July 8–12, 2012, in Brisbane, Australia. I was impressed by her quiet confidence and her intellectual assertiveness. She speaks good Cantonese and has a good command of English language. I attended her presentation of her paper on ‘‘Simulation based validation of two CO2-based demand controlled ventilation control logic for multiple-zone VAV system’’ and was impressed by her knowledge and command of her subject. The reason I am introducing her to you in this editorial is that she has been appointed as the Deputy Editor to assist me with the editing of papers for journal publication. Her name is Dr Josephine Lau. She is an Assistant Professor at the Charles W Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, University of Nebraska-Lincoln of the USA. She, like me, was originally from Hong Kong. She was a first class honours graduate and a Master (with distinction) of Building Services Engineering from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University before she went to the USA where she obtained a further Master degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and a Doctorate degree in Architectural Engineering from Pennsylvania State University where she was also a graduate teaching assistant. She had won many awards for her thesis dissertations in America and for being an outstanding student when she was in Hong Kong. At a relatively young age, she has already established herself internationally. She is a technical committee member of the Environmental Health Committee of ASHRAE and she is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Architectural Engineering. She has published widely and internationally on a wide variety of subjects on Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) air cleaners, ventilation, floor supply displacement ventilation, HVAC systems, CFD simulation of temperature and airflow in multi-zones environments, energy efficiency and indoor air quality, in various journals and conference proceedings. I believe her expertise covers about 75% of the subject areas of our journal which has made her an ideal candidate to be the deputy editor. About 90% of papers submitted to our journal are within the subject areas of her interest, knowledge and expertise. I would also like to introduce to you Dr Zhishi Guo. He is from the US EPA Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Laboratory, Air Pollution Prevention and Control Division (APPCD), Indoor Environment Management Branch (IEMB). He is retiring this year and he has agreed to join the editorial team of the journal as one of the deputy editors to help me with editing of papers. Zhishi does not really need introduction to many of you who know him as one of the leading experts in indoor source characterization of particulate matters, VOCs and SVOCs, modelling of VOC emissions in built environments and indoor air quality simulation. He was responsible for the US EPA simulation tool kit for indoor