Rate My Professor Guillaume Habert

Prof. Dr. Guillaume Habert is Full Professor of Sustainable Construction in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at ETH Zurich, where he heads the Chair of Sustainable Construction within the Institute of Construction and Infrastructure Management. Originally appointed as Associate Professor in August 2012, he was promoted to Full Professor in 2023. An alumnus of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, Habert earned his PhD in structural geology from Université de Toulouse in 2004. Following his doctorate, he held a postdoctoral position at the Federal University of Paraiba in Brazil, transitioning from research in geology and material sciences to civil engineering and sustainability sciences.

Habert's research focuses on sustainable construction practices, life-cycle assessment of building materials, regenerative and low-impact materials such as bio-based alternatives, circular economy strategies in the built environment, and methods to minimize the environmental footprint of construction processes. He leads an interdisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and architects dedicated to integrating sustainability across disciplines involved in the built environment. His influential publications include the book 'Building to Heal: Regenerative Design and the Impact of Sustainable Construction Materials' (co-authored with Verena Göswein), 'Expanding Boundaries: Systems Thinking in the Built Environment' (edited with Arno Schlueter), and peer-reviewed articles such as 'Strategies for robust renovation of residential buildings in Europe' in Nature Communications (2024), 'Engineering a sustainable low-tech cementitious binder for building applications' in Cement and Concrete Research (2022), and contributions on industrialized bamboo solutions for housing and life-cycle assessment of natural versus conventional building blocks. Habert has supervised multiple PhD students and serves on the teaching board (KdL) at ETH Zurich since 2023, as well as the advisory board of École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in France. He is a member of the Holcim Foundation's Academic Committee and has participated as a jury member for Holcim Awards in North America (2014) and Asia (2017). His work advances climate-neutral construction and regenerative design, influencing academic and industry practices toward lower-emission materials and holistic sustainability assessments.