CWSC is an EPFL Centre of Excellence, created to tackle sustainable construction at an impactful global scale. It builds on EPFL’s well-established reputation across construction-related fields — notably cement-based materials — and works from EPFL’s Lausanne campus and from Fribourg, at the Smart Living Lab.
The Centre is growing quickly. Alongside its founding research chairs, six further research chairs are planned by 2030, bringing the total to ten and the team to an estimated 130–160 people. That growth is deliberate: it extends CWSC’s reach beyond cement and concrete into design, urban development, infrastructure, and the wider built environment.
Where we focus
We work on solutions that can make a difference at scale, where the needs will be highest over the coming decades. For new construction, that means a strong focus on the Global South — especially Africa and South Asia, where most of what will be built this century is still to be built.
At the same time, our work carries direct relevance for the Global North, where the priority is adapting a large existing building stock to a changing climate while lowering its emissions. Across both contexts, we aim to significantly reduce the embodied emissions.
What we deliver
CWSC works in four connected ways, each turning research into practical change on the ground.
Research
We conduct evidence-based research on solutions that can make a difference at scale — deepening understanding and delivering more effective sustainable construction practices. This currently draws on the work of 5–10 EPFL professors across related domains.
Educate
We deliver world-class education for students, academics, and professionals: a Minor in Sustainable Construction, a new Certificate of Advanced Studies (first cohort June 2027), the Global Green Concrete Course, and visiting faculty exchanges.
Collaborate
We work industry-wide along the value chain — including LC3 implementation, strategic academic partnerships with institutions such as GHSBE, and the delivery of the Sustainable Buildings and Construction Summit and the Africa Dialogue on Cement.
Inform policyWe provide advice, evidence, and support to policymakers, in partnership with bodies including GCCA, GlobalABC, and UN agencies — among them the Africa Net-Zero roadmaps.
