PhD position on designing buildings with earth, wood, and the sun

Would you like to research for the revival of earth/wood constructions? The Architecture and Building Systems (A/S) research group at ETH Zurich investigates passive and active systems for energy supply and climate control in buildings. We aim to understand how energy and climate-relevant building systems and materials interact with architectural design and people. Starting June 2025 or by arrangement, we seek a PhD student to investigate the integration of passive and active supply concepts in the context of solar architecture and earth/wood construction.

This PhD position is part of the ThinkEarth project, a five-year Innosuisse flagship project to accelerate the transformation towards climate-neutral construction by combining the advantages of wood and earth. The project comprises 10 work packages in the areas of materials and processes, construction and architecture, and legal framework conditions. In the work package Integration/Case Studies, led by the Chair of Architecture and Building Systems, an integrated design process and a monitoring concept are being developed in collaboration with other research partners at ETH Zurich, HSLU, and from the industry using case study buildings under laboratory and real-life conditions. The Chair of Architecture and Building Systems is also part of the work package Hybrid Construction Elements, in which we are investigating thermally activated earth/wood building elements for their heat and moisture buffering properties using simulations and laboratory experiments. The new PhD student will work at the interface of the two work packages to investigate and demonstrate the interaction between earth/wood constructions and passive/active supply concepts (e.g. how to use earth passively and actively as a sustainable thermal storage for solar heating and cooling) and their impact on the indoor climate.

The research will focus on the questions 1) where and how we should use earth/wood best with respect to placement (wall vs. roof), characteristics of earth material/techniques and geometric / room configuration, and 2) when using earth/wood which combinations of passive and active creates most advantageous thermal building systems for comfort, energy, and life-cycle emissions. As part of the research, you will conduct hygrothermal simulations of earth/wood building elements and prepare and conduct small-scale and 1:1-scale experiments using our lab facilities to quantify the benefits of thermal and moisture buffering of thermally activated earth/wood building components and assess their impact on solar heat utilization, building operation, and human well-being.

Key responsibilities:

You will independently conduct comparative, systemic analyses of passive and active earth/wood building elements as sustainable storage for solar heating and cooling and research design and operation principles that enable the usage of earth/wood elements on a large scale. More specifically, you will:

• support the design and fabrication and coordinate the integration/testing of several earth/wood mockups in our Lab facilities.
• develop and execute experiments to monitor thermally activated earth/wood components in combination with solar passive/active design strategies.
• gather experimental data and analyze the thermal and moisture buffering capabilities of hybrid earth/wood mockups and investigate their impact on human well-being.
• apply simulation software to identify key material/design parameters of passively operated earth/wood building components and study their influence on local discomfort.
• identify, summarize, and visualize key design and operation guidelines for solar/earth/wood buildings.
• work closely with interdisciplinary teams, including architects and engineers, and present findings at conferences and in academic journals.
• manage project timelines, resources, and documentation to ensure successful completion of research objectives.

Essential Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Integrated Building Systems, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, or a related field.
• Proven experience in experimental research, particularly in monitoring hygrothermal properties and indoor climate.
• Proficiency in data collection and analysis tools, as well as modeling software relevant to local room comfort and temperature/moisture transport in wall components, e.g. CFX/Fluent, WUFI, etc.
• Strong analytical skills to assess and interpret data related to thermal and moisture buffering properties and comfort metrics.
• Good understanding of solar passive building design concepts and experience with building modeling software, e.g. ClimateStudio.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and visualization skills for presenting research findings and collaborating with interdisciplinary teams.
• Ability to manage research projects, including planning, resource allocation, and documentation.
• A strong interest in sustainable architecture and a commitment to advancing knowledge in this field.

• Your career with impact: Become part of ETH Zurich, which not only supports your professional development, but also actively contributes to positive change in society.
• We are actively committed to a sustainable and climate-neutral university.
• You can expect numerous benefits, such as public transport season tickets and car sharing, a wide range of sports offered by the ASVZ, childcare and attractive pension benefits.