Milestones & Progress
Where the technology stands today, and what is scheduled next. EcoFeatures is at TRL 4–5, validated in a living lab, and is working towards TRL 7 — a system prototype in an operational building — by mid-2027.
Target: TRL 7
A system prototype running in an operational building. This is the target the current three-phase programme is built around, not a result already achieved.
Phase 3: Live Pilot Implementation
Milestone: a fully digitised system in an occupied, operational building. Deliverable: validated hybrid physics-informed machine learning detection under real conditions, on a network in daily use.
Phase 2: AI Module Development
Milestone: a multi-task deep learning model carrying transfer learning across from the Tower 4 pilot to the partner building. Deliverable: a validated multi-task model returning leak presence, floor, flat and inside- or outside-unit position.
Phase 1: Digital Twin Development
Milestone: an operational hydraulic model of the partner building's pipe network, built from coarse building parameters. Deliverable: a calibrated model aligned with real-time monitoring data from the installed edge nodes.
US Provisional Patent Filed
Filed 1 December 2025 — IP.PA.12794, US application 63/938125, “Method and system for leak detection in residential building's water supply network”. Inventors: Louati M., Choura O., Cheng S. and Li S. It covers the multi-stage AI approach to hierarchical leak localisation. This is a provisional application, not a granted patent.
HKUST Tower 4 Living-Lab Pilot
A full deployment on a 12-storey residential building with three flats per floor — the standard Hong Kong high-rise topology, which is what makes the model transferable. Measured on the real network: 98.8% leak detection accuracy with combined pressure and flow sensing on valve-closing events, 97.5% from a pressure sensor alone and 96.3% from pressure and vibration together, with the full measured range across sensor configurations and transient types running from 86% to 99%. The work was carried out in compliance with Water Supplies Department regulations and coordinated with the HKUST Campus Management Office.
HKUST Techship Grant
EcoFeatures is an HKUST Techship grantee under the Lo Kwee Seong Fund. The company is at pre-seed stage.
Institutional Backing
The programme is supported by the HKUST Office of Knowledge Transfer, the HKUST Entrepreneurship Center, the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission, and the HKUST Campus Management Office, which hosts the living-lab site.