Prof. em. Dr. Hansjürg Leibundgut

Hansjürg Leibundgut has been Professor of Building Services at the Institute of Building Technology of the ETH Zurich since September 2005. The Institute is part of the Faculty of Architecture. He is a partner in the company Amstein + Walthert in Zurich.

Born in 1949 in Rüegsau (canton of Berne), he studied mechanical engineering at the ETH Zurich, with the main focus of his studies on reactor technology and fluid dynamics. During his time as a scientific assistant at the Institute of Food Science and Nutrition, he became involved in the fields of solar technology and absorption technology. He concluded his time at the ETH with a dissertation on these two specialist subjects.

After 4 years' industrial experience in the R&D sector of absorption refrigeration technology, he transferred to Zurich's cantonal administration and was soon appointed to a senior position with responsibility for energy, air quality and technology in 1,500 public buildings.

In 1989, he returned to the private sector and became part-owner and senior engineer with Amstein + Walthert AG. Within this company, he developed the specialist areas of HLKSE (HVAC, plumbing and electricity = house technology), facility management, dynamic building simulation, etc. and supervised more than 100 projects for a wide variety of architects.

Due to a lack of suitable construction components, he developed various new products in conjunction with Swiss industrial partners.