A PhD position is available, supervised by Prof. Delphine Ramon hosted in the Architectural Engineering research group at the Department of Architecture of KU Leuven. The team of Prof. Delphine Ramon aims to advance cost-effective, sustainable, and climate-resilient transformation of the built environment by developing integrated assessment methodologies that support robust decision-making from building to urban scale. Her expertise lies in dynamic life cycle costing and assessment, building stock modelling, coupling climate model data with building and urban simulations, and assessing heat stress and climate resilience. This research project contributes to the research line "cost-effective sustainable building renovations" with a focus on the development of a dynamic life cycle costing methodology to assess robust cost-effective sustainable building renovations at scales.
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Project
Achieving climate neutrality by 2050 requires faster and deeper renovation of the existing building stock, particularly multi-family housing, where renovation rates and energy performance remain low related to collective ownership, split incentives, and constrained investment capacity. Current renovation decisions are often based on static life cycle cost (LCC) methods or short-term financial indicators, which fail to capture long-term value creation under changing economic, policy, and climate conditions.
This PhD research aims to develop a dynamic life cycle costing methodology for the renovation of multi-family housing, explicitly integrating building valuation and income generation. The research will move beyond lowest-cost assessments towards a value-based perspective that supports robust investment and policy decisions. A key objective is to embed the methodology in a robust decision-making framework, enabling the evaluation of renovation strategies under cost, policy and climate uncertainties rather than identifying a single “optimal” solution.
The PhD candidate will investigate four core challenges:
- development of a dynamic LCC methodology including building valuation and income streams;
- assessment of renovation strategies under cost, energy price, and policy uncertainties;
- robust selection of renovation scenarios across uncertain futures; and
- coupling the methodology with building information modelling (BIM) to enable automated extraction of material quantities, cost data, and performance indicators for complex buildings, supporting scalable and practice-oriented application.
The PhD will contribute methodologically to life cycle costing and valuation research, while delivering actionable insights and tools for policymakers, financial institutions, and building professionals aiming to enable cost-effective and future-proof renovation strategies.
Profile
We are looking for a highly motivated, enthusiastic, and communicative PhD candidate who is eager to contribute to research at in the field of cost-efficient sustainable building.
- You hold a Master’s degree in Engineering Science: Architecture, Civil Engineering, or a closely related field.
- You have a strong interest and/or background in building economics, building renovation, building information modelling (BIM), and programming (e.g. Python).
- You demonstrate a clear affinity with quantitative and methodological research, including data analysis, modelling, or tool development.
- You are scientifically rigorous, well-organised, and methodical, with a strong sense of responsibility and attention to detail.
- You are proficient in English (spoken and written) to enable effective scientific communication; knowledge of Dutch is considered an asset.
- You are creative, proactive, and curious, with a strong interest in exploring innovative ideas and research directions.
- You enjoy working both independently and collaboratively, and you value interdisciplinary collaboration within the research group and with external partners.
- You have an interest in teaching and supervision, and are willing to contribute to educational activities and MSc thesis supervision (approximately 10% of your time).
- You are willing and expected to present research results at national and international conferences and to publish in high-quality international journals.
Offer
- A fully funded PhD position of four years, with an intermediate evaluation after one year, leading to a PhD degree in Engineering Science: Architecture, upon successful completion.
- The position is based in Heverlee, at the Department of Architecture, KU Leuven.
- You will be embedded in a supportive and interdisciplinary research environment, with close supervision by the main supervisor and guidance from a supervisory committee to ensure scientific quality and to support your research process and development throughout the PhD.
- Access to a structured doctoral training programme, including courses on scientific, technical, and transferable (soft) skills.
- Room for personal and professional career development, supported through and aligned with research responsibilities, teaching activities, service roles, networking opportunities, and tailored guidance in line with your career ambitions, both within and beyond academia.
- Opportunities for an international research stay, as well as participation in international research collaborations and conferences.
- Active encouragement and support to apply for an FWO PhD fellowship (maximum two application attempts).
- A competitive salary in accordance with KU Leuven regulations, including social security, health insurance, and access to university facilities (research infrastructure, libraries, sports facilities, etc.).
- Expected start date: 01/02/2027. This can be discussed.
Interested?
For more information please contact Prof. dr. ir. Delphine Ramon, mail: [email protected].
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