I hold a degree in architecture gained at a German University. Almost from the start of my technical career (there has been one in medicine before that) I worked as a building physicist, finally founding my own company (Ingenieurgesellschaft BEO mbH), which thanks to competent and loyal employees continued to function even after I emigrated to New Zealand. In addition to this job, I have been a part-time lecturer for building physics at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen for 3 years.
As part of my work for BEO, I
- | was an advisor for the federal German state of Bremen in matters of energy efficiency; |
- | projected and managed a very successful public incentive programme funded by the federal German state of Bremen, for energy efficient retrofits. Thousands of homes have been retrofitted by now, thus saving humongous amounts of CO2 each year, and making them a healthier place to live simultaneously; |
- | was part of a team that implemented and managed the hugely successful educational programme “Bremer Impulse”, funded by the energy agency Bremer Energie-Konsens. Through seminars and workshops lay people as well as experts are acquainted with technologies and theories to make buildings more energy efficient. There have been numerous seminars and workshops where I also did the teaching; |
- | was a founding member of a quality assurance body for low energy buildings, the RAL-Guetezeichen 965 (Niedrig-Energie-Bauweise), and have been in the quality assurance committee for a couple of years; |
- | was involved in the planning for the first Passive House school in the world, a Passive House office building and a small Passive House settlement; |
- | published research on energy efficient buildings. |
After travelling the world for nine months, my partner and I decided to spend the second half of our lives in New Zealand. We later both became New Zealand citizens.
I gained a Master's degree in Planning (first class honours) from The University of Auckland and won the NICAI Summer Research Scholarship.
Currently, I am appointed as lecturer at Unitec Institute of Technology, while also pursuing doctoral studies (on indoor environmental quality) at The University of Auckland.