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Andrew Sonta

andrew.sonta@epfl.ch +41 21 693 27 52 https://ethos.epfl.ch

EPFL ENAC IIC ETHOS
HBL 1 3B (Halle Bleue)
Pass. du Cardinal 13b
1700 Fribourg

EPFL ENAC IIC ETHOS
HBL 1 3B (Halle Bleue)
Pass. du Cardinal 13b
1700 Fribourg

Expertise

Human-building interaction, building energy, occupant behavior, sustainable design and planning, walkability, network analysis, machine learning, urban informatics, social systems.
Andrew Sonta is a tenure track assistant professor of sustainable civil engineering at EPFL. He directs the ETHOS Lab: Engineering and Technology for Human Oriented Sustainability. ETHOS is an interdisciplinary research group focused on using data-driven and computational tools to create interventions in the built environment that advance our social and environmental sustainability goals. Areas of work include human-building interaction, building energy efficiency, socio-environmental analysis of urban form, and urban energy systems.

Before joining EPFL, Andrew was a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University's Data Science Institute.

Education

B.S. in Civil Engineering

| Minors in Architecture and Economics

2011 – 2015 Northwestern University

M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering

| Sustainable Design and Construction

2015 – 2017 Stanford University

Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering

| Sustainable Design and Construction

2017 – 2021 Stanford University

PhD Students

Liu Shiyu, Shoji Kanaha, Pilot Giovanna, Zhang Yufei

Courses

Computational systems thinking for sustainable eng.

CIVIL-534

This course integrates systems thinking and network analysis through theory and computing. The objective of this course is to develop expertise in computationally analyzing and modeling complex systems in civil and urban systems engineering, with a particular emphasis on advancing sustainability.

Energy and comfort in buildings

CIVIL-407

The course presents the fundamentals of energy demand in buildings while emphasizing the need for the comfort and well-being of occupants. In addition, prioritizations and trade-offs between energy and comfort are discussed.

Engineering a sustainable built environment

CIVIL-239

This course explicitly addresses the issue of sustainability in the built environment through an engineering lens. It covers the sustainability and energy landscape, approaches to sustainability in civil engineering, and specific tools for enacting sustainability in civil engineering.

Stone masonry: Past, present, and future

PENS-232

This course introduces students to the historical, structural, and environmental aspects of stone masonry. Emphasis is on understanding the role of stone masonry in architecture, basic structural behavior, and approaches to predict and assess the performance of stone masonry buildings.

Sustainability

ENV-101

This course presents global sustainability issues. It introduces planetary boundaries, their systemic interconnections and social justice issues. The interdisciplinary approach introduces group work and systems thinking (interdependencies in a complex system).