Researchers use this climate chamber to conduct controlled indoor air quality experiments.

Whether climate-, health- or energy-related, one crisis after another is forcing us to rethink the way we design, construct, and use buildings. This is also the fast-changing context in which the Smart Living Lab operates. Based in downtown Fribourg, the research and development center for the future of the built environment has become a byword for innovation. It is powered by the combined expertise of EPFL, the Fribourg School of Engineering and Architecture (HEIA-FR) and the University of Fribourg (Unifr) and attracts world-class basic and applied research students and scientists from around the globe.

Martin Gonzenbach, Operational Director of EPFL Fribourg and the Smart Living Lab, is rightly proud of his organization’s work and achievements to date, “The Smart Living Lab brings added value to Fribourg and its Bluefactory innovation district thanks, among others, to its participation in major national and international collaborative projects like SWICE, a project funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy that aims to reduce the country’s energy consumption through direct engagement with the public. Another great example is the ARC-HEST program. It taps into existing cooperation between Switzerland and South Korea to explore urban planning solutions inspired by different cultures and policies.”

The Smart Living Lab will soon have its own purpose-built facility in the heart of the busy and exhilarating Bluefactory ecosystem, alongside a wide range of industrial players and start-ups already based in the innovation district. True to its name, this unique structure will be a dedicated experimental space that will foster greater public-private interaction and dialogue on construction technologies, entrepreneurship, and sustainability.