Working area

Laboratory for Multiscale Studies in Building Physics

Head Urban Energy Systems Laboratory

 

Main research interests

• Climate change and urban microclimate interactions with building energy and comfort
• Innovative urban and building energy systems with multi-energy grids and energy hubs
• Integration of renewable energy systems at building, quarter and city level
• Passive cooling systems (night-time ventilation, thermo-active building systems)

 

Short CV
Viktor Dorer received a diploma degree in mechanical engineering from ETH Zurich in 1979. He then worked at ETH Zurich and in aerospace industry on novel airplane design and composite lightweight structure technologies. Being at Empa since 1988, he has a long record in building energy and ventilation research, acting as project leader and/or principal investigator in many national and international research projects (IEA, EU). He also conducted a number of research projects on building ventilation and for many years represented Switzerland in IEA’s Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC). Then his research activities focused on innovative building energy systems such as building integrated cogeneration systems, thermo-active building and passive cooling systems. He then led the build-up of the atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel at Empa and its operation, in relation with his research in urban microclimate building energy impact. He was deputy head of the Empa Laboratory for Building Science and Technology and co-headed its Urban Physics group. In January 2015 he was appointed head of the Empa Urban Energy Systems Laboratory, newly formed in the context of the Swiss Competence Centres for Energy Research. Since February 2018 he is the deputy head of this lab. From December 2018 until February 2020 he also acts as head of the Empa Laboratory for Multiscale Studies in Building Physics. His actual research focuses on decentralized urban energy systems and buildings - urban climate interactions, the advancement of related numerical modelling techniques and studies of respective real cases. He also lectures at ETH (Master course in Integrated Building Systems) and the University of Applied Science Lucerne.

Recent publications (2010-2018)
SCI/SCIE indexed journals

Prasanna A., Dorer V., Vetterli N. Optimisation of a district energy system with a low temperature network. Energy 137 (2017) 632-648
Fumey B., Stoller S., Fricker R., Weber R., Dorer V., Vogt U.F. Development of a novel cooking stove based on catalytic hydrogen combustion. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 41, 18 (2016) 7494-7499
Evins R., Orehounig K., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Variability between domestic buildings: the impact on energy use. Journal of Building Performance Simulation 9, 2 (2016) 162-175
Orehounig K., Mavromatidis G., Evins R., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Integration of decentralized energy systems in a rural neighborhood using the energy hub approach. Applied Energy 154 (2015) 277-289.
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Carmeliet, J.  Coupled CFD, radiation and building energy model for studying heat fluxes in an urban environment with generic building. Sustainable Cities and Society 19, 305 (2015) 385-394
Evins R., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Simulating external longwave radiation exchange for buildings. Energy and Buildings 75 (2014) 472-482
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Buoyant flows in street canyons: Validation of CFD simulations with wind tunnel measurements. Building and Environment 72C (2014) 63-74.
Evins R., Orehounig K., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. New formulations of the 'energy hub' model to address plant operation constraints, Energy 73 (2014) 387–398.
Orehounig K., Mavromatidis G., Evins R., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Towards an energy sustainable community: An energy system analysis for a village in Switzerland. Energy and Buildings 84 (2014) 277–286
Moonen P., Gromke C., Dorer V. Performance assessment of Large Eddy Simulation (LES) for modeling dispersion in an urban street canyon with tree planting. Atmospheric Environment 75 (2013) 66–76
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Wind tunnel measurements of buoyant flows in street canyons. Building and Environment 59 (2013) 315-326
Paterna E., Moonen P., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Mitigation of surface reflection in PIV measurements. Measurement Science and Technology 24 057003 (2013).
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Influence of the urban microclimate in street canyons on the energy demand for space cooling and heating of buildings. Energy and Buildings 55 (2012) 823-832
Moonen P., Defraeye T., Dorer V., Blocken B., Carmeliet J. Urban Physics: effect of the micro-climate on comfort, health and energy demand. Frontiers of Architectural Research 1 (2012) 197–228
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Analysis of convective heat transfer at building façades in street canyons and its influence on the predictions of space cooling demand in buildings. Journal of Wind Engineering & Industrial Aerodynamics, 104–106 (2012) 464-473
Moonen P., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Effect of flow unsteadiness on the mean wind flow pattern in an idealized urban environment. Journal of Wind Engineering & Industrial Aerodynamics, 104–106 (2012) 389-396
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Defraeye T., Carmeliet J. An adaptive temperature wall function for mixed convective flows at exterior surfaces of buildings in street canyons. Building and Environment 49 (2012) 55-66
Moonen P., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Evaluation of the ventilation potential of courtyards and urban street canyons using RANS and LES. Journal of Wind Engineering & Industrial Aerodynamics 99 (2011) 414–423
Kazempoor P., Ommi F., Dorer V. Response of a planar solid oxide fuel cell to step load and inlet flow temperature changes. Journal of Power Sources 196 (2011) 8948– 8954
Lehmann B., Dorer V., Gwerder M., Renggli F., Tödtli J. Thermally activated building systems (TABS): Energy efficiency as a function of control strategy, hydronic circuit topology and (cold) generation system. Applied Energy 88 (2011) 180–191
Kazempoor P., Dorer V., Weber A. Modelling and Evaluation of Building Integrated SOFC Systems. Int. Journal of Hydrogen Energy 36 (2011) 13241-13249
Kazempoor P., Dorer V., Ommi F. Modelling and Performance Evaluation of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell for Building Integrated Co- and Polygeneration.  Fuel Cells 10 (6) (2010) 1074–1094
Lehmann B., Güttinger H., Dorer V., van Velsen S., Thiemann A-, Frank T. Eawag Forum Chriesbach – Simulation and measurement of energy performance and comfort in a sustainable office building. Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1958–1967
 

Refereed conference papers and articles in technical journals

2017
Prasanna A., Dorer V., Optimization of a District Energy System with a Low Temperature Network (in Switzerland). Building Simulation 2017, San Francisco USA  Aug 7-9 2017.
Prasanna A., Dorer V., Feasibility of renewable hydrogen based energy supply for a district). CISBAT 2017 6-8 September 2017, Lausanne, Switzerland. Energy Procedia 122 (2017) 373-378
Bollinger, L.A., Dorer, V. The Ehub Modeling Tool: A flexible software package for district energy system optimization. CISBAT 2017 6-8 September 2017, Lausanne, Switzerland. Energy Procedia 122 (2017) 541–546

2016
Bollinger, L.A., Dorer, V. A simulation platform to facilitate the design of distributed energy systems for buildings and districts. Status Seminar, Brenet Zürich, 8-9 Sept 2016
Dorer V., Bollinger L.A., Orehounig K. Modelling, design and assessment of decentralised energy systems for sites and quarters. Status Seminar, Brenet Zürich, 8-9 Sept 2016
Prasanna A., Vetterli N., Dorer V., Sulzer M. Modelling the Suurstoffi district based on monitored data to analyse future scenarios for energy self-sufficiency. Status Seminar, Brenet Zürich, 8-9 Sept 2016

2015
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Coupled CFD, radiation and building energy model for studying heat fluxes in an urban environment. ICWE14, 14th International Conference on Wind Engineering, Porto Alegre, Brazil, June 2015.
Evins R., Orehounig K., Dorer V. Integrated urban energy modelling approaches to support the Swiss Energiewende 2050. CISBAT 2015, Lausanne, Switzerland, September 2015.
Fumey B., Stoller S., Fricker R., Weber R., Gantenbein P., Daguenet-Frick X., Dorer V. Performance of the absorption process in a seasonal sorption heat storage prototype. CISBAT 2015, Lausanne, Switzerland, September 2015.
Hohmann M., Waibel C., Dorer V., Evins R., Carmeliet J. Optimisation of urban energy systems: case study of the Empa Areal. CISBAT 2015, Lausanne, Switzerland, September 2015.
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Derome D., Carmeliet J. Microclimate Effects on Building Energy Use: A Methodological Approach. Building Simulation 2015, Hyderabad, India, December 2015.
Hsieh S.-S., Weber R., Dorer V., Orehounig K.  Integration of Thermal Energy Storage at Building and Neighbourhood Scale. Building Simulation 2015, Hyderabad, India, December 2015.

2014
Evins R, Orehounig K, Dorer V., Carmeliet J. A hybrid design and operational optimisation process applied to an energy centre. Building Simulation and Optimization, 23-24 June 2014, London, UK
Orehounig K., Mavromatidis G., Evins R., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Predicting energy consumption of a neighborhood using calibrated building performance simulations. Building Simulation and Optimization, 23-24 June 2014, London, UK
Orehounig, K., Evins, R., Dorer, V., Carmeliet, J. Assessment of renewable energy integration for a village using the energy hub concept. Energy Procedia 57 (2014) 940-949
Mavromatidis G.; Evins R., Orehounig K., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Multi-objective optimization to simultaneously address energy hub sizing, layout and scheduling using a linear formulation. 4th International Conference on Engineering Optimization, September 8-11, 2014, Lisbon, Portugal
Struck Ch., Benz M., Dorer V., Frei B., Hall M., Menard M., Moosberger S., Orehounig K., Sagerschnig C. Performance Gap“ in der Schweiz – Brisanz, Ursachen und Einflüsse auf die Differenz von geplantem Energiebedarf und gemessenem Verbrauch in Gebäuden. Brenet StatusSeminar Energieforschung Schweiz, Sep. 2014, Zuerich.
Fumey, B., Weber, R., Gantenbein, P., Daguenet-Frick X., Williams T., Dorer, V., Carmeliet, J. Experience on the development of a thermo-chemical storage system based on aqueous sodium hydroxide. Energy Procedia 57 (2014) 2370-2379.
Fumey B., Weber R., Gantenbein P., Daguenet-Frick X., Williamson T., Dorer V. Development of a closed sorption heat storage prototype. Energy Procedia 46 ( 2014 ) 134 – 141

2013
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Validation of CFD simulations with wind tunnel measurements for buoyant flows in street canyons. PhysMod 2013, Sep 16-18 2013, University of Surrey, UK
Orehounig K., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Sustainable energy plan for a village in Switzerland. Cisbat 2013, 4-6 Sep 2013, Lausanne.
Fumey B., Weber R., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Experience and outlook on the thermo chemical storage system based on aqueous sodium hydroxide. Cisbat 2013, 4-6 Sep 2013, Lausanne.
Fumey B., Weber R., Gantenbein P., Daguenet-Frick X., Williamson T., Dorer V. Parameters effecting economy and heat density of sorption heat storage systems. Eurotherm Seminar #99, Advances in Thermal Energy Storage, Leiden University, 2013
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Kämpf J., Carmeliet J. Modelling the urban microclimate and its influence on building energy demands of an urban neighbourhood. Cisbat 2013, 4-6 Sep 2013, Lausanne.
Carmeliet J., Allegrini J., Moonen P., Saneinejad S., Dorer V. Urban energy and microclimate: wind tunnel experiments and multiscale modelling. CESBP 2013; Vienna
Orehounig K., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Development of a future energy concept towards an energy sustainable community. CESBP 2013; Vienna
Zweifel G., Struck Ch., Tillenkamp F., Keller T., Dorer V., Weber A., Gaegauf Ch., Sattler M. Energy supply with micro-CHP for a residential unit with electric vehicle. Building Simulation 2013, Aug 25-28 2013, Chambéry, France.
Dorer V., Allegrini J., Orehaunig K., Kämpf J., Moonen P., Carmeliet J. Modelling the urban microclimate and its impact on the energy demand of buildings and building clusters. Building Simulation 2013, Aug 25-28 2013, Chambéry, France
Carmeliet J., Allegrini J., Moonen P., Saneinejad S., Dorer V. Urban energy and microclimate: Wind tunnel experiments and multiscale modelling. Building Simulation 2013, Aug 25-28 2013, Chambéry, France.

2012
Sattler M., Strittmatter T., Zumsteg H.-P., Dorer V., Wiederkehr M. Lastmanagement im Kraftwerk Haus - Der Beitrag des Gebäudes zur Integration erneuerbarer Energien im Stromnetz. brenet Status Seminar Energieforschung, Sep 13-14, 2012 Zürich
Moonen P., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Large Eddy Simulation of concentration fluctuations in an urban street canyon. The Seventh International Colloquium on Bluff Body Aerodynamics and Applications (BBAA7), Shanghai, China; September 2-6, 2012
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Urban street canyon microclimate impact on energy demand of buildings. brenet Status Seminar Energieforschung, Sep 13-14, 2012 Zürich
Zweifel G., Struck Ch., Gaegauf Ch., Sattler M., Dorer V., Tillenkamp F. 2012. Simulation der polyvalenten Energiebereitstellung mit Mikro-Wärme-Kraft-Kopplung für eine Wohneinheit mit Elektrofahrzeug. BauSIM 2012. Berlin, 26-28.Sep. 2012
Paterna E., Moonen P., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. 2012. Flow around a cube: time-resolved PIV measurements and analysis. 8th International Conference on Urban Climate (ICUC 8), Dublin, Ireland, Aug. 6-10, 2012
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. 2012. Impact of urban microclimate on building cooling demand predictions. 8th International Conference on Urban Climate (ICUC 8), Dublin, Ireland, Aug. 6-10, 2012
Moonen P., Gromke C., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. 2012. Performance assessment of a model for simulating dispersion in an urban street canyon with tree planting. 9th International Forum and Workshop on Combined Heat, Air, Moisture and Pollutant Simulations (CHAMPS 2012) Tokyo, Japan, June 1-3, 2012
Moonen P., Gromke C., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. 2012. Performance assessment of a model for simulating dispersion in an urban street canyon with tree planting. 5th International Building Physics Conference (IBPC5), Kyoto, Japan, May 28-31, 2012
Dorer V., Allegrini J., Saneinejad S., Moonen P., Carmeliet J. 2012. Building Energy Demand and Urban Microclimate including Heat Island Effects and Evaporative Cooling. 5th International Building Physics Conference (IBPC5), Kyoto, Japan, May 28-31, 2012
Carmeliet J., Moonen P., Defraeye T., Dorer V., Blocken B. Urban Physics: effects of wind on comfort, energy, health and driving rain. 15th Australasian Wind Engineering Society Workshop, Sydney, Australia, Feb. 23-24, 2012

2011
Allegrini J., Dorer V. Carmeliet J. Influence on the urban microclimate on the energy demand of buildings. Cisbat11, Lausanne Sep 14-16 2011
Paterna E., Moonen P., Dorer V. Carmeliet J. Turbulent flow around a surface-mounted cube: time-resolved and time-averaged PIV measurements and comparison with numerical simulations. PHYSMOD2011 – International Workshop on Physical Modelling of Flow and Dispersion Phenomena, Hamburg, Aug. 22-24, 2011
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Buoyant Flow in a Street Canyon: Comparison of CFD Simulations and Wind Tunnel Measurements. PHYSMOD2011 – International Workshop on Physical Modelling of Flow and Dispersion Phenomena, Hamburg, Aug. 22-24, 2011
Moonen P., Gromke Ch., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. LES of dispersion in a street canyon with tree planting. PHYSMOD2011 – International Workshop on Physical Modelling of Flow and Dispersion Phenomena, Hamburg, Aug. 22-24, 2011
Moonen P., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. On the relevance of incorporating flow unsteadiness in simulations of wind flow in the urban environment. ICWE13, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 10-15, 2011
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Analysis of convective heat transfer at building façades in cities and its influence on the energy demand in buildings. ICWE13, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 10-15, 2011

2010
Gaegauf Ch., Sattler M., Dorer V. et al. Gebäude als Teil des virtuellen Kraftwerkes. 16. Status-Seminar «Forschen und Bauen im Kontext von Energie und Umwelt», Zürich, Sep.2-3,  2010
Allegrini J., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Stadtklima und Energiebedarf von Gebäuden. 16. Status-Seminar «Forschen und Bauen im Kontext von Energie und Umwelt», Zürich, Sep. 2-3, 2010
Moonen P., Dorer V., Carmeliet J. Effect of local wind climate on the scalar removal potential of urban street canyons. Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Computational Wind Engineering (CWE2010), Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, May 23-27, 2010