Dr. Georgios Mavromatidis

Head of Urban Energy Systems Laboratory @ Empa

👤 Short bio

I am the Head of the Urban Energy Systems Laboratory at Empa, Switzerland, and a research affiliate and lecturer at ETH Zurich, researching transformation strategies for sustainable urban energy systems in a changing climate.

Driven by the urgent need to create resilient, equitable, and sustainable urban environments, I develop advanced computational models and analysis methods to design strategies for the practical realization of sustainable urban energy transitions. My research focuses on the interconnected nature of buildings, mobility, and energy systems, exploring how their transformation can support decarbonization and long-term sustainability.

At the interface of technology, policy, and economics, my current research expands on these foundations by integrating societal dimensions into modeling approaches. By bridging science, engineering, and policy, I aim to develop solutions that are not only technically and economically sound but also socially viable, accelerating the transition toward sustainable, low-carbon cities.

I hold a PhD in Urban Energy Systems from ETH Zurich, where my research focused on developing computational methods for the design of urban energy systems under uncertainty. Before that, I earned an MSc in Sustainable Energy Futures from Imperial College London and a Diploma (Dipl.-Ing.) in Mechanical Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

🔬 My Research

Research Area 1

Design of sustainable urban energy systems

I develop optimization models for energy system design that address challenges across multiple scales—from urban-level integrated planning to national capacity expansion. My work tackles both energy supply and demand dimensions, while incorporating critical factors like building energy efficiency and sector coupling between buildings and mobility. A flagship outcome of this research is the MANGO suite of models, which offers robust, strategic frameworks to help decision-makers navigate complex energy planning challenges and drive resilient, sustainable transitions.

Research Area 2

Building energy efficiency & decarbonization

Working at multiple scales, I tackle the challenge of decarbonizing the building sector, which is a major contributor to energy consumption and emissions. I develop approaches that range from detailed building simulations assessing retrofit strategies to large-scale building stock analyses supporting policy development. By integrating techno-economic modeling with data-driven methods, I quantify the impact of energy efficiency measures and low-carbon technologies to inform both technical regulations and policy frameworks.

Research Area 3

Co-design of policy mixes and energy systems for decarbonization

The successful transition to sustainable energy systems requires coordinated policy and technology development. I focus on developing methods for the systematic co-design of policy mixes and energy systems—an approach that recognizes their inherent interdependence and the limitations of treating them in isolation. While traditional approaches separate policy design from technical implementation, my work bridges this gap through integrated frameworks that capture the complex interactions between policy mechanisms and energy system evolution.

Decision-making under uncertainty

Designing resilient energy systems requires careful consideration of uncertainties in supply, demand, and operating conditions. Through the integration of applied statistics and global sensitivity analysis (GSA), I identify the key sources of uncertainty affecting energy system performance. Building on these insights, I apply techniques for optimization under uncertainty, such as stochastic programming, to design systems that maintain effectiveness under diverse and uncertain future conditions.

Research Area 6

Machine learning & data-driven modeling

By harnessing machine learning techniques, I accelerate complex energy system analyses and enhance decision support. My approaches combine traditional optimization methods with data-driven techniques to overcome computational barriers in energy planning. Through efficient surrogate models, this work enables rapid exploration of design alternatives and uncertainty analysis that would be prohibitive with conventional methods alone, making sophisticated optimization more accessible to practitioners.

📝 Selected Publications

A curated selection of my recent publications is featured below. For a comprehensive list, please visit my Journal Publications and Conference Publications pages.

  • Lerbinger A., Powell S., Mavromatidis G. (2024) MANGOever: An optimization framework for the long-term planning and operations of integrated electric vehicle and building energy systems. Advances in Applied Energy, 16, 100193. DOI: 10.1016/j.adapen.2024.100193
  • Thimet P.J., Mavromatidis G. (2023) What - where - when: Investigating the role of storage for the German electricity system transition. Applied Energy, 351, 121764. DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.121764

  • Petkov I., Mavromatidis G., Allan J., Knoeri C., Hoffmann V. (2022) MANGOret: An optimization framework for the long-term investment planning of building multi-energy system and envelope retrofits. Applied Energy, 314, 118901. DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.118901

  • Mavromatidis G., Petkov I. (2021) MANGO: A novel optimization model for the long-term, multi-stage planning of decentralized multi-energy systems. Applied Energy, 288, 116585. DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.116585

  • Murray P., Marquant J. F., Niffeler M., Mavromatidis G., Orehounig K. (2020) Optimal transformation strategies for buildings, neighbourhoods and districts to reach CO2 emission reduction targets. Energy and Buildings, 207, 109569. DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.109569

  • Mavromatidis G., Orehounig K., Carmeliet J. (2018) Uncertainty and global sensitivity analysis for the design of distributed energy systems. Applied Energy, 214, 219-238. DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.01.062