DESCRIPTION

The Laboratory for Building Energy Materials and Components at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology is a leading provider of advanced materials with a view on applications and integration of new solutions into next-generation energy-efficient building concepts. The lab's mission is to provide new materials solutions on the basis of wet chemical / sol-gel methods and to implement these across the board in the built environment. It is thus an innovator with focus on the “Energy & Buildings” topic. The laboratory seeks a healthy mix of fundamental research activities and projects to secure a place at the forefront of academic research in the aerogel materials topic. These activities are complemented by applied R&D projects with other academic research institutes and industry partners.

CONTRIBUTION IN RENOWAVE

In behavioural decision experiments, the BEMC found that bounded rationality and in particular cognitive biases can play a significant role in the sustainability of energy-related decisions. The developed tools for the study of specific decision contexts will be applied to Subproject 1.2 “Local incentive programs” in order to accompany the development of the municipality programs. Empa-BEMC will also contribute in Subproject 1.3 “Support and coaching tools for refurbishment strategies”, thanks to its track record on high-performance insulation R&D, the lab works on building-user-interaction and on energy-related decision making in the building context.

Incentive programsSupport tools