The SWICE consortium, of which Prof. Andersen is the principal investigator and Dr Luisa Pastore the program manager, has been selected for the SWEET (“SWiss Energy research for the Energy Transition”) program funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (OFEN/BFE). The winning consortium consists of 10 higher education institutions and about 30 industrial partners across Switzerland. With a total budget of 22 MCHF, of which 9,9 MCHF are funded by OFEN, the collaborative project will last 8 years. A special attention will be given to the emergence of more sustainable approaches in the built and unbuilt environment, in mobility and energy management favouring users’ comfort and well-being, with a dedicated focus on behaviour and acceptability of change. Some of the explored research paths include how the workplace can be more intensively and optimally used without compromising comfort and satisfaction, or how the digital twin model can be extended to real-world energy systems. Explicit collaboration will be sought with Living Labs, which will allow to work locally with communities and make research outcomes tangible though pilot demonstrations and implementations in real life, with the aim to result in actionable insights.

The LIPID Lab will work closely with HOBEL/LEURE/ICE and UNIL on a work-package dedicated to the relationships between energy or resource use and indoor environmental quality and health in living environments.