Prof. Dr. Luca Baldini
Prof. Dr. Luca Baldini
ZHAW
School of Architecture, Design and Civil Engineering
Abteilung F&E, WB, DL
Tössfeldstrasse 11
8400 Winterthur
Work at ZHAW
Position
Co-head Institute for Building Technology and Process / Lecturer - Research in Building Energy Systems and Technologies
Focus
Energy in buildings, Renewable energies, Building energy systems / building technologies, Thermal energy storage, Simulations
Teaching
Building Systems - Master of Integrated Building Systems MIBS, ETH Zurich
Professional development teaching
CAS Energiesysteme für klimaneutrale Areale und Quartiere
Experience
- Lecturer in Master of Integrated Building Systems MIBS, ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich
03 / 2017 - today - Head of research group BEST - Building Energy Systems and Technologies
Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
03 / 2016 - 05 / 2021 - Innovation manager - NEST
Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
05 / 2014 - 03 / 2016 - CEO / Head Development and Distribution of Buidling Technology Components
BS2 AG
11 / 2009 - 12 / 2013
Education and Continuing education
Education
- Dr. sc. ETH / Building Energy Systems
ETH Zurich
10 / 2005 - 12 / 2009 - Dipl. Masch.-Ing. ETH / Mechanical Engineering - Fluid dynamics and Turbomachinery
ETH Zurich
09 / 1997 - 09 / 2003
Continuing Education
CAS Leadership in Science
FHNW
12 / 2017
Network
Membership of networks
AEE Suisse - member and speaker of the scientific council/board/working group thermal storage
ORCID digital identifier
Social media
Projects
- Design exploration and network integration of Underground Thermal Energy Storage for Cities / Deputy project leader / ongoing
- An exploratory approach for the design of building-level multi-energy systems (B-MES), leveraging integration of renewables and grid-friendly operation / Project leader / ongoing
- Swiss Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage Action Plan and Implementation / Project leader / ongoing
- Decarbonisation of Cooling and Heating in Switzerland / Project leader / ongoing
- Chinese Zero Emission Buildings with Swiss Know-How: Impact Study / Project leader / completed
- From high-fidelity to data-driven building energy performance simulation / Project leader / completed
- “Humans-in-the-loop” – An occupant-centric digital framework for sustainable building operation / Team member / completed
- Occupant-centric, mobile, radiant panel cooling for increasing summer comfort in offices / Project leader / completed
- Carbon Negative Biochar-based Building Insulation Materials / Project leader / completed
- TCology - Thermo-Chemical Network Ecology / Project leader / completed
- Frigero - Towards energy autonomous temperature-controlled supply chains / Team member / completed
Publications
Articles in scientific journal, peer-reviewed
- Mahecha Zambrano, J. and Baldini, L. (2025) 'Integrating CFD and thermoregulation models : a novel framework for thermal comfort analysis of non-uniform indoor environments', Energy and Buildings, 335(115570). doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2025.115570.
- Weber, R., Fumey, B. and Baldini, L. (2025) 'Liquid sorption storage for high solar fraction heat supply in residential buildings under different climatic conditions', Energy and Buildings, 332(115446). doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2025.115446.
- Kim, M. K., Liu, J. and Baldini, L. (2024) 'Numerical analysis, design and application of a decentralized ventilation system with a heat recovery unit adapting to Nordic climates : a case study in Norway', Energy Reports, 11, pp. 3863–3875. doi: 10.1016/j.egyr.2023.11.050.
- Fumey, B., Weber, R. and Baldini, L. (2023) 'Heat transfer constraints and performance mapping of a closed liquid sorption heat storage process', Applied Energy, 335(120755). doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.120755.
- Fiorentini, M., Heer, P. and Baldini, L. (2022) 'Design optimization of a district heating and cooling system with a borehole seasonal thermal energy storage', Energy, 262, Part B(125464). doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.125464.
- Fumey, B. et al. (2022) 'Enhanced gas-liquid absorption through natural convection studied by neutron imaging', International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 182(121967). doi: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2021.121967.
- Hadengue, B. et al. (2022) 'Performance and dynamics of active greywater heat recovery in buildings', Applied Energy, 305(117677). doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117677.
- Fumey, B. and Baldini, L. (2021) 'Static temperature guideline for comparative testing of sorption heat storage systems for building application', Energies, 14(13), p. 3754. doi: 10.3390/en14133754.
- Silva, R. et al. (2021) 'Opportunities for passive cooling to mitigate the impact of climate change in Switzerland', Building and Environment, 208(108574). doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.108574.
- Fiorentini, M. and Baldini, L. (2021) 'Control-oriented modelling and operational optimization of a borehole thermal energy storage', Applied Thermal Engineering, 199(117518). doi: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2021.117518.
- Tzinnis, E. and Baldini, L. (2021) 'Combining sorption storage and electric heat pumps to foster integration of solar in buildings', Applied Energy, 301(117455). doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117455.
Written conference contributions, peer-reviewed
- Yigit, S., Mahecha Zambrano, J. and Baldini, L. (2025) 'A GIS and bottom-up simulation-based framework to assess the role of zero-emission building standards in achieving low-carbon goals : insights from a case study for China', in Berardi, U., António, J., and Simões, N. (eds) Construction, Energy, Environment and Sustainability. Singapore: Springer, pp. 413–422. doi: 10.1007/978-981-95-1826-5_44.
- Yigit, S. and Baldini, L. (2025) 'Geospatial analysis for identifying suitable sites for subsurface seasonal thermal energy storage : a case study of city of Zurich', in European Geothermal Congress, Zurich, Switzerland, 8-10 October 2025. Winterthur: ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences. doi: 10.21256/zhaw-34927.
- Mahecha Zambrano, J. and Baldini, L. (2025) 'Energy and thermal comfort performance of occupant-centric radiant cooling systems : linking CFD, thermoregulation, and building performance simulations', in Journal of Physics: Conference Series. IOP Publishing, p. 072004. doi: 10.1088/1742-6596/3140/7/072004.
- Baldini, L. and Mahecha Zambrano, J. (2025) 'Exploring the feasibility of thermochemical networks in district heating applications with high renewable fraction', in Journal of Physics: Conference Series. IOP Publishing, p. 022014. doi: 10.1088/1742-6596/3140/2/022014.
- Jenny, D., Graser, K. and Baldini, L. (2023) '"rubber band" – a practical support tool for integrated and resource-efficient early design in construction', in Journal of Physics: Conference Series. IOP Publishing, p. 202002. doi: 10.1088/1742-6596/2600/20/202002.
- Baldini, L. and Zambrano, J. M. (2023) 'Thermochemical storage networks for integration of renewable energy sources through seasonal load shifting', in Journal of Physics: Conference Series. IOP Publishing, p. 42001. doi: 10.1088/1742-6596/2600/4/042001.
- Fiorentini, M. et al. (2022) 'Design and optimal integration of seasonal borehole thermal energy storage in district heating and cooling networks', in CLIMA 2022 The 14th REHVA HVAC World Congress. TU Delft OPEN Publishing. doi: 10.34641/clima.2022.64.