Pittau Francesco

Francesco Pittau is Associate Professor in Production and Management of the Built Environment at the Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering (DABC) of Politecnico di Milano. His research focuses on sustainable and circular strategies for the built environment, with particular expertise in life-cycle-based environmental assessment, decarbonization pathways, and resource-efficient building management. From 2020 to 2025, he served as Assistant Professor at Politecnico di Milano. He has also held the position of Research Associate at ETH Zurich (Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering - Chair of Sustainable Construction) and has been Visiting Professor at Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok), the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and Saint Joseph University (Macao).He teaches at the School of Architecture, Urban Planning and Construction Engineering (AUIC) in the areas of construction technologies, digitalization of building processes, and sustainability assessment applied to design and building management. He has authored more than 90 scientific publications addressing multiple dimensions of sustainability, with a strong focus on life-cycle environmental impact assessment of buildings.His research is regularly presented at major International Conferences, and he has served as member of several scientific committees for conferences organization and management within the Sustainable Built Environment (SBE) series.

Career

European PhD (summa cum laude) in Building Engineering Systems (2010–2012), Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering (DABC), Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Dissertation: “Carbon Efficient Constructions: Life-Cycle-Based Method for the Evaluation of the Carbon Footprint of Wood Buildings.” Supervisor: Enrico De Angelis (Politecnico di Milano). Co-supervisor: Matti Kairi (Aalto University).

Single-Cycle Master’s Degree (Laurea Magistrale a Ciclo Unico) in Building Engineering–Architecture (2004–2008), Politecnico di Milano.

Research

The research activity is oriented toward the development of advanced methodological approaches to support the ecological transition of the construction sector, contributing to the international scientific debate on the decarbonization of the building stock and the circular transformation of the built environment. In this context, the research activity focuses on the definition and evaluation of integrated strategies for both new constructions and retrofit interventions, through the integration of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Material Flow Analysis (MFA) models, with the aim of holistically quantifying environmental impacts, material flows, and carbon mitigation across the entire life cycle. The research activity also includes the development of top-down and bottom-up forecasting models to estimate material and carbon savings resulting from circular economy strategies, urban mining, and resource optimization, at both building and territorial scales, providing decision-support tools for planning policies and decarbonization strategies. The activities are carried out in collaboration with research centers and international partners, through experimental applications on low-carbon and highly circular construction products and components.

Selected Publications

Göswein V., Arehart J., Carcassi O., Lokkoe M.L., Silvestre, Tsiavos J.A., Pittau F., Pomponi F., Ben-Alon L., Zea Escamilla E., Habert G. (2026), “Towards net-zero with fast-growing biobased construction materials”, Sustainable & Green Materials, Vol. 2(1), pp. 1-24. DOI: 10.1080/29965292.2025.2599796.

Li Y., Pittau F., Masera G. (2026), “Global embodied carbon in buildings: Meta-analysis and science-based decarbonization through technological solutions”, Journal of Building Engineering, Vol. 117(2026), 114909, pp.1-22. DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2025.114909.

Hansen R.N., Hoxha E., Birgisdóttir H., Pittau F (2025), “Reducing the land-use impact of wooden buildings with fast-growing biobased materials: A Danish case study”, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Vol. 212(2025), 107926, ISSN 0921-3449. DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107926.

Correa de Melo P., Caldas L.R., Masera G., Pittau F. (2023), “The potential of carbon storage in bio-based solutions to mitigate the climate impact of social housing development in Brazil”, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 433, 139862. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.139862.

Carcassi O.B, Habert G., Malighetti L.E., Pittau F. (2022), “Material Diets for Climate-Neutral Construction”, Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 56(8), pp. 5213−5223. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c05895.

Grants, awards and Honours

(2023) Seal of Excellence for Project 101103566 — “BioEcrete: Bio-based earth concrete for healthy and carbon-neutral buildings”, Horizon Europe (HORIZON), Call: HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01.

(2022) Winner of the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022. Project “BioEcrete – Bio-based earth concrete for healthy and carbon-neutral buildings” (No. 101103566). Role: Principal Supervisor.

(2019) Best Paper Award – Outstanding Contribution at CESB19 - Central Europe towards Sustainable Building 2019, 2–4 July 2019, Prague. Paper title: “A life-cycle approach to building energy retrofitting: bio-based technologies for sustainable urban regeneration”. Authors: Pittau F., Habert G., Iannaccone G.

(2013) Design Mention: International design competition for the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2015, EMBT - Enric Miralles Benedetta Tagliabue (2nd place).

Community Service

Deputy Coordinator of the Master’s Degree in Building Engineering–Architecture.

Member of the International Mobility Committee of AUIC School.

International Mobility Coordinator for the Master’s Degree in Building Engineering Architecture.

Member of the Polimi LCA Network.

Member of the Italian LCA Network – Buildings Working Group.

Member of the Research & Tools Working Group of iiSBE.

Member of RILEM – Cluster D “Service Life and Environmental Impact Assessment”.

Member of the Scientific Committee of the SBE Series.