Sustainability

EPFL and the Smart Living Lab will embark on an eight-year research project designed to help Switzerland cut its energy use. A key feature of the project lies in the way it will engage with people through Living Labs. By bringing together universities, businesses and public-sector organizations, the project consortium hopes to develop sustainable systems that can also increase users’ comfort and well-being.

Imagine designing a robotic glider able to accelerate to 800km per hour using only the wind at its back. Combining passion with work, EPFL Professor Pascal Fua is leading research to develop the required capabilities, with important implications for sustainability.

The research project CircuBAT aims to create a circular business model for the production, application and recycling of lithium-ion batteries used for mobility purposes. Seven Swiss research institutions and 24 companies are joining forces to look for ways to boost sustainability in all stages of a battery’s life cycle. The project is part of the newly launched Flagship Initiative of Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency.

A team of ETH researchers led by Athina Anastasaki have succeeded in breaking down plastic into its molecular building blocks and in recovering over 90 percent of them. A first step towards genuine plastic recycling.  

A newly installed data center in the NEST research building is not only used for data processing, but also helps to heat the entire building. The server system is part of the international EU research project ECO-Qube, which is investigating the integration of data centers into building systems and their energy-efficient operation.