The Institute of Technology in Architecture (ITA) is a leading research institute on building technology, focusing on sustainability, building systems and digital fabrication.
The VILLE project is one of the sub-tasks contributing to the “Renewable Management and Real-Time Control Platform” (ReMaP) project. ReMaP aims to understand the implications of the widespread adoption of fluctuating renewable energy sources on the energy system as a whole. This goal will be achieved by developing a flexible, hardware- and software-based research platform for assessing potential energy-system solutions for the neighborhood of the future.
As energy infrastructures are planned for long-term usage, it is essential to consider energy demand scenarios over the life-time of the installed technologies (20 - 50 years). The VILLE project aims to develop future scenarios of an artificial urban neighborhood for electrical and thermal load emulation. The delivered Urban Building Energy Models (UBEMs) should reflect the evolution of future climate, densities, building use types, building properties, and building energy systems. For this, we extend Urban Building Energy Models (UBEM) and building system models in the urban energy modeling environment ‘City Energy Analyst (CEA)’ to depict future scenarios in Switzerland.
We offer this position within the Chair of Architecture and Building Systems, led by Prof. Arno Schlueter. You will be directly involved in developing the UBEMs of future district archetypes in Switzerland. The core responsibilities include identifying the future trends in building properties and building energy systems, developing the UBEMs that reflect the trends, and integrating the research outcome into the City Energy Analyst platform.
We are looking for highly motivated and self-organized candidates with a background in engineering (with experience and a strong interest in the built environment/architecture) or in architecture (with experience and a strong interest in engineering/data science), preferably with a focus on building and urban energy simulation, energy systems modeling and optimization and other relevant modeling/simulation experience. Experience in programming (Python, Matlab, etc.) is desired. We require excellent communication skills in English, both verbally and written. Knowledge in German or French is welcome. You should be able to combine strong individual research with teamwork within the project. We explicitly encourage female candidates to apply.