Principal
Luke Leung is an ASHRAE and LEED Fellow. A Centennial Fellow of The Pennsylvania State University Architectural Engineering program, he has been deeply involved in ASHRAE’s mission—serving as Commercial Team Leader for the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force, member of the Task Force for Building Decarbonization Executive Committee, and committee member of the Center of Excellence for Building Decarbonization. Luke has also held the roles of ASHRAE Director-at-Large, Distinguished Lecturer, TC 9.12 on Tall Buildings Chair, Environmental Health Committee Chair, and 2025 Decarbonization Conference Chair. Beyond ASHRAE, he is a founding member of the MEP 2040 initiative, serves on the City of Chicago Decarbonization Task Force, advises the National Renewable Energy Laboratory IN² Incubator program, and co-chairs the BOMA Toronto Health Committee.
As Principal of the Sustainability Engineering Studio at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, Luke leads a firm-wide practice focused on high-performance and net-zero buildings. His portfolio includes iconic landmarks such as the Burj Khalifa and four of the world’s top 20 tallest buildings, as well as master-planning initiatives like Xiong’an’s millennium net-zero city in China. Notable building projects include the Pertamina Tower (Net Zero Supertall), General Motors Global Headquarters, Beijing Finance Street, and the Canadian embassies of the US in Ottawa and Beijing. Luke has also contributed editorially to key industry publications, including the CTBUH guide Natural Ventilation in High-Rise Office Buildings and ASHRAE’s Design Guide for Tall, Supertall, Megatall Building Systems.
Net Zero Whole Life Carbon
This seminar presents an integrated methodology for eliminating both embodied and operational carbon over a building’s full life cycle. Participants will gain practical strategies, performance benchmarks, and case studies illustrating how to achieve true net-zero carbon with advanced materials, equipment, controls, and lifecycle planning. Including discussion of how different organizations, e.g. London Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI), a volunteer network of over 1,000 UK-based architects, engineers, developers, academics, and policymakers road map to net zero.
Embodied Carbon Strategies
○ Low-carbon material selection (recycled-content steel, bio-based material, low-GWP refrigerants)
○ Modular design and disassembly
○ Design for longetivity
○ Bio-based material
○ Engaging manufacturers on EPDs and carbon-balanced production
Operational Carbon Elimination
○ Full electrification
○ On and off-site renewables & storage
○ High-efficiency equipment selection and AI-driven commissioning
Lifecycle Performance & Monitoring
○ How long is the building life cycle?
○ Real-time metering feeding
○ Machine-learning predictive maintenance frameworks
○ End-of-life decommissioning protocols
Building on leadership in operational carbon modeling and net-zero operational system design, MEP engineers are uniquely equipped to spearhead whole-life carbon strategies. By embedding embodied carbon assessments into simulations and extending the integrated trade-off strategies, MEP engineers can transform every system decision towards whole life carbon-neutral buildings.
Quantum Mechanics in Building Design: Inspiring IEQ and Driving Decarbonization
While building physics has traditionally relied on Newtonian principles, the broader field of physics is rapidly evolving toward quantum mechanics. Emerging quantum theories and technologies hold the potential to transform how we think about materials, measurement, modeling, and the management of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and carbon performance in buildings. This seminar explores frontier innovations—from quantum-informed perspectives and ultra-sensitive pollutant detection sensors to quantum-accelerated simulations that optimize low-carbon systems—offering a glimpse into how these breakthroughs can shape the future of high-performance building design.
Key Topics & Takeaways:
- Quantum Mechanics Fundamental
● Quantization
● Wave–Particle Duality
● Superposition
● Entanglement
- Impacts to IEQ
● Human cells - electromagnetic field and particles
● Vision - photons
● Olfaction and molecules
● Quantum mechanic sensors
- Impacts to energy and carbon
● Electron emission and PV
● Quantum Materials & Smart Façades - Emerging materials (e.g., quantum dots, phase-change nanoparticles) for tunable transparency and thermal regulation
● Nanoscale material
○ Design self-regulating insulation materials that adapt to temperature changes
○ Develop coatings that convert heat into reusable energy
● HVAC optimization
○ Quantum solvers process millions of variables (occupancy patterns, weather forecasts, thermal load distribution) to minimize energy consumption while maintaining occupant comfort
○ Generative building design - generate ductwork layouts with 15–30% shorter paths and fewer components
○ Dynamically adjust airflow based on predictive occupancy models
Collaboration Intelligence: Humans and AI Together to Reach Net Zero Across Building Portfolios.
The New Carbon Standards: Towards Net Zero Operational, Embodied, Upfront and Whole Life Carbon
While the past focus on energy and carbon is more about operational, the new focus will be on Whole Life Carbon. For the past 20+ years, the MEP industry was focused on operational energy reductions. Through strategies related to energy efficiency, utility source selection, and integration of renewable energy, great progress was made to reduce operational carbon. Our focus is now moving to the embodied and Whole Life Carbon associated with the materials and systems found in the built environment. Embodied carbon looks at the carbon impacts associated with extracting, manufacturing, and transporting materials to the jobsite, in addition to manufacturing and transportation, including impacts related to in-use and end of life. While life cycle analysis (LCA) accounts for impacts over the full lifecycle of a material, which includes embodied and operating carbon, or, cradle to grave. Also, more focus is on Upfront Carbon, or, cradle to gate to understand the carbon impact of different materials.
This will greatly impact our work tomorrow. This discussion will include different methodologies in the counting of carbon, examples of different carbon calculations, and ways to reduce carbon emissions holistically. With the new administration goal of 1.5C net zero economies by 2050, and 2035 all-renewable electricity grid, we need to accelerate holistic carbon effort to an all-electric, and net zero future. This presentation will explore the Burj Khalifa’s MEP and sustainability design and construction—from conceptual to construction through post-occupancy performance—highlighting how this world-record tower anticipates and adapts to its desert environment and dramatic vertical range. Key strategies include: ● Environmental Optimization: Façade orientation, shading, and material selection tailored for both ground-level desert heat and higher-altitude conditions. ● Impacts of Heights: Detailed management of concrete creep and shrinkage in critical elements such as high-rise water risers. Pressure of water and air columns in the design. ● Advanced MEP Systems: ○ A high-pressure (460 psi) chilled-water network and an integrated ice-storage system ○ One of the world’s largest condensate-recovery installations ○ Real-time stack-effect monitoring and active pressure control ○ Continuous measurement, including balcony-door sensors that indicate optimal outdoor times. ○ Medium electric voltage for normal and emergency power up the tower ○ An innovative “lifeboat” elevator capable of controlled evacuation Using the Burj Khalifa as a case study, we will also examine the unique microclimates that develop at different heights, review the latest data on stack-effect dynamics and lightning protection, and discuss how energy use scales with elevation.Burj Khalifa – The Tallest Building in the World
Smart, Occupant-Centric IEQ to Optimize Air Quality, Light, Thermal, Acoustic, and Microbial