The Human-Oriented Built Environment Lab HOBEL

“Buildings of the future must not be only energy efficient, but they should also contribute to “Michelin Star” air quality”

“Buildings of the future must not be only energy efficient, but they should also contribute to “Michelin Star” air quality”

The Human-Oriented Built Environment Lab (HOBEL) is the research laboratory of Prof. Dusan Licina within the Smart Living Lab in the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC) at EPFL Fribour.

HOBEL strives to advance the knowledge of the intersections between people and buildings by ensuring high indoor environmental quality for building occupants with minimum energy consumption. HOBEL’s mission is to improve the knowledge in the domains of dynamics and fate of air pollutants in buildings, human inhalation exposures, smart ventilation systems and controls, and more broadly, human comfort and energy efficiency in the built environment. We pursue our goals through a combination of laboratory and field experiments, modeling, data analysis, and at times numerical simulations, ranging from the human scale to the building and even urban scale.

© 2023 EPFL

HOBEL members participated CISBAT2023

— HOBEL members participated in CISBAT2023 conference hosted by EPFL! HOBEL Team members Bowen Du, Evangelos BELIAS, Seoyeon Yun, Sarah Crosby, Shen Yang, Tianqi Liu, and Erica Coelho Pagel presented their significant research contributions in sustainable and healthy buildings, with a specific emphasis on indoor air quality and ventilation.

© 2023 EPFL

Tianqi Liu joined HOBEL as a new PhD assistant

— Tianqi Liu joined HOBEL in August 2023 as a doctoral assistant. He received his Master of Science degree in Building Performance and Diagnostics from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States (2023) and his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Building Environment and Energy from Tianjin University in Tianjin, China (2021). 

© 2023 EPFL

HOBEL participated in Healthy Building 2023 Europe Conference

— HOBEL participated in Healthy Building 2023 Europe Conference at Aachen, Germany. The Healthy Buildings conferences serve as a connection between scientific research and practical applications. These conferences are highly influential in promoting sustainable solutions and creating a healthy and environmentally friendly indoor environment. Healthy Buildings 2023 Europe was hosted by University Hospital RWTH Aachen and RWTH Aachen University, with the support of ISIAQ (the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate).

© 2023 EPFL

HOBEL takes part in a discussion on the future of indoor air quality

— Professor Dusan Licina has taken part in an interactive online discussion organized by Marco Gysel from Sensirion together with industry leaders Liam Bates (Kaiterra) and Bernard Clement (Johnson Controls).

© 2023 EPFL

Maria Viviana GONZALEZ SERRANO completed her PhD Thesis at HOBEL

— Maria Viviana GONZALEZ SERRANO recently completed her PhD Thesis entitled "Assessment of personal exposure to particle and gaseous air pollutants in residences and offices"

© 2023 EPFL

Sarah Crosby joins HOBEL group as a new PostDoc

— Dr. Sarah Crosby joined HOBEL in March 2023 as a postdoctoral researcher. She received her PhD degree from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

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