About the DGNB Course Instructors

ee concept GmbH

Amani Badr studied architecture at Alexandria University, Egypt. After graduation in 1998, she began her professional career at HEADS architectural office in Alexandria. From 1999 to 2008, she worked as a teaching and research assistant at Alexandria University and Darmstadt University of Technology. In 2004, she completed her master's degree with a thesis entitled Sustainable Multistory Buildings. Since 2008 she is a project manager at ee concept GmbH in Darmstadt, focusing on energy and sustainability consulting and certification. Amani Badr is an accredited DGNB auditor and participated in the development of several schemes within the framework of working groups and pilot phases.

Further information:
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IQ - Real Estate GmbH

Yvonne Brandenburger studied architecture in Düsseldorf and Berlin and worked for over 10 years at the international architecture firm J.S.K., planning and managing large scale projects. She complemented the practical experience of her occupation through continuing studies in Real Estate Management and Construction Project Management at the University of Wuppertal and Reading (GB). Since July 2008, Yvonne has been leading project management assignments and is responsible for the field of sustainability at IQ Real Estate GmbH in Düsseldorf. She attended the first seminar for DGNB Auditors and has since been appointed as a member of the DGNB Process Expert Group. She is also a visiting lecturer in sustainable construction at the University of Applied Science in Münster and at other academic institutions.

Further information:
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PE International GmbH

Anna Braune was born in Munich, Germany in 1974. She studied Environmental Engineering at the Technical University of Berlin and wrote her thesis on Life Cycle Assessment in collaboration with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland. From 2004 to 2007 she was a research assistant at the University of Stuttgart, Chair of Building Physics, Life Cycle Engineering Department, and she has also worked for a number of consulting firms in the field of sustainability and building service engineering. She is an initiator and founding member of the DGNB, where she served as CEO from the DGNB’s foundation in June 2007 to the end of 2008. Anna is now working at PE INTERNATIONAL, where she is responsible for PE’s Consulting Services Construction Team. Anna is an Auditor, Education Program Instructor, and Conformity Inspector for the DGNB, and part of the DGNB Experts Group on LCA.

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Expertengruppe LCA >>
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Kahn do Brasil Ltda.

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1977. Arthur Brito received his Architecture and Urban Planning degree from the University of São Paulo and Specialist degree in Hospital and Health Systems Administration from Fundação Getúlio Vargas.

Arthur has been amongst the first group of Brazilian professionals to receive a DGNB Consultant accreditation and is a founding member of the DGNB Chapter in Brazil. LEED Accredited Professional BD+C by USGBC and EDAC Board Certified Professional by The Center for Health Design, he is currently the Executive Director for Albert Kahn Family of Companies, in Brazil.

DGNB

After completing his Diploma in Architecture at the University of Stuttgart in 1997, Dominic worked in architectural practice in Gothenburg, Tel Aviv and London, specialising in Healthcare and Education projects such as the Beit Cholim Meir hospital complex in Kfar-Saba and the RIBA Stirling-Prize shortlisted Hampden Gurney Primary School and Housing Project in Paddington.
In 2001, he completed the City Design and Social Science at the London School of Economics (LSE) and was Assistant Director of the interdisciplinary MSc programme and Associate within the LSE Cities Programme´s Urban Design Consultancy. His key research included the study of the social, cultural and economic role of high streets in towns and small cities.
Dominic joined the British government’s independent advisory body, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) in 2005. As Senior Policy Advisor at CABE, Dominic was particularly responsible for design policy in housing and neighbourhoods. As part of this work, Dominic led the Building for Life initiative, engaging with industry and key stakeholders in the development process through a criteria-based tool for the assessment of design quality in new neighbourhoods. Amongst other things, Dominic developed and delivered the National Network of Accredited Building for Life assessors and managed the delivery of quality assessments for national project funding decisions.
Returning to his native Stuttgart in 2011, Dominic has worked with the Urban Design Department of the University of Stuttgart and the Sustainable Urbanism Institute at the Technical University of Munich, pursuing strategies for resource-efficient urban development through research and teaching on projects in Stuttgart, Nürnberg, and the Ruhr valley.

DGNB

Michael Dax is Director of the DGNB International System and is responsible for system adaptation. He holds talks on a regular basis on the DGNB System at international conferences and has conducted training sessions of International Consultants. Mr. Dax studied architecture, and began his professional career in the mid nineties in a number of architecture firms across Europe and the United States. His expertise has been derived from leading corporate architecture and corporate design. He now has over 15 years of professional experience in both industry and consulting, and is an accredited DGNB Auditor.

EB - Partner GmbH & Co. KG

Thilo Ebert was born in Schweinfurt, Germany in 1967 and studied Building Services Engineering at Munich University of Applied Sciences. He has worked at numerous consulting companies like the office of Prof. Hausladen in Munich, involved in energy efficient building design, building services and building simulation. Thilo worked with Prof. Klaus Daniels as part of the Future Building Design Team at HL-Technik AG and was an associate at WSP Flack+Kurtz Inc. in San Francisco. He is founding member and managing director of Ebert-Consulting Group GmbH & Co. KG in Munich and Vice President of Ebert & Baumann Consulting Engineers Inc., Washington D.C., USA. He is DGNB Auditor since 2009, LEED AP since 2006 and has authored numerous publications in the field of sustainable building design, energy efficiency and Climadesign and is a frequent speaker on current issues in sustainable building technologies. Together with Prof. Gerd Hauser und Dr. Nathalie Eßig, Thilo has authored the standard book “Green building certifications system”, published in 2011. He is a member of the Ventilation and Air-Conditioning Committee at the VDI (German Association of Engineers), a member of the VBI Research Group International (German Association of Consulting Engineers International Group) and has been a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers for over twelve years.

ee concept GmbH

Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Sebastian Fiedler studied Architecture at the Technical University Munich, he graduated in 2004 with his diploma „Energy Efficient Refurbishment of a Post War Office Building“ at the chair of Prof. Thomas Herzog. After working for different practices in the field of energy efficient architecture from 2004 to 2006 he worked at the University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart (HFT Stuttgart) from 2006 to 2010. Starting as a researcher with a project on the performance of an artificial sun and sky for advanced daylight planning he became general manager of the research institute „Centre of Sustainable Energy Technology (zafh.net)“ in 2007. From 2008 to 2010 he was project manager of the HFT Stuttgart team for the Solar Decathlon 2010 competition. With their house home+, the team achieved the third place. Since 2010 he teaches „Energy Efficient Buidling Design“ as a visiting professor at the Frankfurt University of Apllied Sciences and works for ee-concept gmbH in Darmstadt and Stuttgart. Since 2012 he is authorized representative of ee-concept gmbh.

IKL GmbH

Dipl.-Ing. Tobias Fischer, born in 1976, is a senior consultant at ikl, the engineering firm of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kunibert Lennerts GmbH. Since graduating with a degree in architecture from the University of Karlsruhe (TH) he has worked for offices in Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Mexico City. In addition to planning and participating in the construction process for numerous buildings, he has engaged himself in projects with a special focus on the sustainable use of resources, such as energy and water. He is actively committed to the German Sustainability Council (DGNB) not only as a practicing Auditor, but also through the development of new user profiles, for example as head of the Working Group for the new “Modernization of Existing Residential Buildings” Occupancy Profile.

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EGS-plan International GmbH

Robert Himmler was born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1969. He studied mechanical engineering at the University of Stuttgart, and wrote his thesis on the subject of concrete core heating and cooling systems in energy efficient buildings. He has worked at numerous consulting companies involved in energy efficient building, building simulation, and HVAC design. In 2007, together with Univ. Prof. Dr.-Ing. M. N. Fisch and Dr.-Ing. Dirk Schwede, he founded EGS-plan International GmbH, a company with a strong focus on sustainable buildings in Asia, Eastern Europe and the MENA region. He is a DGNB International Consultant and Junior Education Program Instructor.

ifes GmbH

Gerhard Hoffmann, (Dipl.-Ing./Dipl.-Wirt.Ing.) Managing Director of ifes – Institute for Applied Simulation and Energy Facility Management GmbH, Frechen – has been advising developers, investors, architects and planners in the realization of sustainable and energy-efficient buildings for 30 years, both nationally and internationally. From 2000-2008 he also held a position as a lecturer at the Department of Architecture at the University of Applied Sciences in Münster, teaching about the sustainable design of buildings. He contributed his extensive experience to the development and introduction of the DGNB certification standard, and since 2008 has audited numerous projects which obtained Gold and Silver certification. He is now a DGNB Senior Auditor. The team at ifes provides advice on the development of energy-efficient and sustainable buildings, and on the technical equipment such projects require. 20 years of experience and ideas combined with innovative simulation methods and comprehensive knowledge of the latest renewable energy technology allows ifes to conceive and implement state-of-the-art engineering solutions which are both environmentally and economically sustainable. Quality assurance by virtual building design and simulation is the basis for these consulting services, providing maximum cost-cutting potential. The use of simulation software allows the quality of projects to be assessed and optimized in the early planning phase.

Further information:
Expertengruppe Stadtquartiere >>
DGNB Senior Auditor >>

DGNB

Thomas Kleist was born in 1968. He received his Diplom in Structural Engineering from the Technical University of Dortmund in 1997. After his graduation he worked at HOCHTIEF Construction AG in construction management until 2004, when he became an independent consulting engineer for GreyDot Engineering. Since 2004 he has also been a lecturer at TU Dortmund, for the Chair for Construction and Building Process Management, and in 2007 he began collaborating with the engineering firm of Professor Gralla. In 2008 he joined the DGNB, where he is an Auditor, Education Program Instructor, member of the Certification Committee, and the leader of the Working Group for Industrial Buildings and Production Facilities. In 2010 he assumed the position of Assistant System Director, and in 2011 became the Director of the DGNB Academy.

Further information:
Arbeitsgruppe Industriebauten >>
Arbeitsgruppe Neubau Produktionsstandorte >>
DGNB Auditor >>

Mürlepartner Baumanagement

Martin Kusic studied Chemistry at the University of Siegen and Architecture at the Technical University and the University of Applied Sciences in Munich, as well as at UdK Berlin and Bauhaus University Weimar. He is an accredited Architect, and founded his own office in 1996. From 1999 to 2006 he taught descriptive geometry and presentation techniques at the Universities of Applied Sciences in Augsburg and Munich. In 2005 he founded a company with the objective of reducing carbon emissions by reducing the energy demand of buildings, and worked there as CEO until 2010. He has authored publications on energy efficiency and energy consumption calculation software, and since 2010 has been working in the Efficiency & Sustainability project group of mürlepartner Construction Management.

Further information:
DGNB Auditor >>

Beijing DGNB Green Building Consulting Co.Ltd.

Mr. Quinn (Qiu) Lu is a director of 5+1 Werkhart Group, one of the largest international architectural design and engineering consulting firm in China, and guest professor of Chinese Southeast University. Honored as a member of the DGNB international board, he is also the first Chinese DGNB auditor in the world.
Mr. Lu was born in Beijing China in 1962. After receiving his bachelor degree in architecture and master degree in urban planning from Tsinghua University, he went to Germany in 1988 and lived there for 14 years. He was awarded the Dipl.-Ing. Arch.degree from University Dortmund and worked on plenty of important projects in architecture design firms in Germany for more than 10 years. In 2002 he returned to China, jointly established the Werkhart Group and undertook the responsibilities for the planning of many outstanding projects for national and international clients. He has also been recognized as a specialist in the field of sustainable architecture design in China. 

Drees & Sommer Advanced Building Technologies GmbH

In 2001 after his training as a central heating and ventilation mechanic Christian Luft started his studies building services, energy and environmental engineering at the University of Applied Sciences Esslingen. In June 2006 he finished his studies with his diploma about the topic "examination of the influences of operation conditions to the efficiency factor of heat generations" which was awarded as outstanding from the industrial association for technical building equipment.
Already during his studies Christian Luft gained his first work experience during practical training in Australia, China as well as at an planning office in Stuttgart. Since July 2006 he works as a project partner for Drees & Sommer. He is LEED AP and DGNB Auditor. As consulting engineer in the team building technology he was responsible for the technical-economical controlling at the New Premises of the European Central Bank. Furthermore he was responsible for the Green Building Certification (LEED Platinum, DGNB Gold) for the Deutsche Bank Green Towers in Frankfurt finished 2011. After completion of the Green Towers he is leading the international project section at the Drees & Sommer headquarters in Stuttgart and is working on  several international projects.
The aim of his work is to realize economical and sustainable technical concepts of high quality.

DGNB

Born in Koblenz, Germany, in 1983, Daniela Merkenich completed her Bachelor studies in Architecture at the University of Applied Sciences Koblenz and specialized with an MEng in Sustainable Structures at the University of Applied Sciences in Frankfurt.
After working for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Ethiopia in 2009 and 2010, Daniela concluded her studies with the master thesis “Sustainable Construction in developing countries - Adaptation of Certification Systems in Ethiopia” in 2011. In the same year, she joined DGNB System Development to work on the consolidation of the certification system and the development of new schemes. Daniela gained DGNB Consultant accreditation in 2011.

DGNB

Dr.-Ing. Consolata Russelli was born in Turin, Italy in 1977. She studied Civil Engineering at the University Politecnico of Turin and at the Institute National des Séances Appliqués of Lyon, France. Following an internship at the Construction Dynamics Department of the TNO Building and Construction Research Institute in Delft, Netherlands, she graduated in 2002 with her thesis entitled “Rail-Traffic-Induced Vibrations on Building Foundations”. From 2003 to 2007 Consolata was a research assistant at the Institute for Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Stuttgart, where she earned her doctorate with her thesis on “Probabilistic Methods applied to the Bearing Capacity Problem”. She began her professional career as Project Manager for R&D at the Timber Structures Department of the Otto-Graf Institute (MPA) at the University of Stuttgart. She is now Coordinator of the DGNB International Academy and responsible for the DGNB Partner Network. In June 2011 she was accredited as a DGNB International Consultant.

energydesign (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Dr. Dirk Alexander Schwede was born in Kiel, Germany in 1972. After graduation from the University of Stuttgart as a building engineer, he joined the Steinbeis-Transfer Centre for Energy-, Building- and Solartechnology in Stuttgart. From 2001 to 2006 he perused his PhD Studies at the University of Sydney in Australia and following he joined Deakin University at a Post-Doc Research Fellow. Since 2008 Dr. Schwede is managing director of energydesign (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. and partner of its mother company EGSplan international GmbH in Stuttgart. He is leading a team of specialized engineers contributing to sustainable building throughout China and Asia. He is visiting professor at Tongji University in Shanghai. Dr. Schwede is LEED Accredited Professional and DGNB international pilot auditor, with experience in multiple certification projects in China.

Ingenieurbüro Trinius GmbH

Dr.-Ing. Wolfram Trinius studied engineering, and published his Dissertation entitled “Life Cycle Assessment in Construction” in 1999 at the Technical University of Stockholm (KTH). He founded the engineering firm Trinius in Hamburg in 2000, where he carries out consulting, research and development projects, as well as the development of standards related to sustainable building. He is academically engaged at the University of Gävle (HIG) in Sweden, and has represented Sweden in international committees dealing with sustainable building. The ISO Standards ISO 15686-6 (Service Life Planning of Buildings and Constructed Assets) and ISO 15392 (General Principles of Sustainability in Building Construction) were developed under his leadership. Through his collaboration in numerous international research projects he has established a broad portfolio of experience encompassing life cycle assessment, environmental product declarations, performance-based building, service life, and life cycle costs. Innovative sustainable building is also the focus of two EU research projects in which Dr. Trinius is playing a leading role: “STAND-INN”, which involves the integration of sustainability aspects into BIM Communication Standards (IFC/BuildingSMART) and which won the Europe-Innova Award for “Best Network 2008”, and “Smart-ECO”, which is investigating the potential contribution of innovative solutions and systems to the vision of sustainable building.
The work of Trinius Engineering in these exciting areas bridging innovation and sustainability, as well as its extensive experience with Swedish and international environmental assessment methods led the firm to become a co-founder of the DGNB, where Dr. Trinius is currently active in system development, on the Technical Committee, and as an Auditor, Education Program Instructor, and Conformity Inspector. He is furthermore a founding member of the Austrian Sustainable Building Council (ÖGNI), and his involvement in its Technical Committee further underscores his international credentials in the area of system development for certification systems. Dr. Trinius’ longstanding international engagement was highlighted again by his recent appointment as independent inspector of environmental product declarations under the IBU System.

Further information:
Fachausschuss >>
DGNB Auditor >>

IKL GmbH

Dipl.-Ing Jan Zak, born in 1976, works at the engineering firm of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dipl.-Wi.-Ing. Kunibert Lennerts, where he has been employed since June 2009. Following his studies in architecture at the University of Karlsruhe, he worked as a research assistant at the Chair of Economy and Ecology in Residential Construction, led by Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Thomas Lützkendorf, as well as at the Institute for Industrial Construction Technology, led by Prof. Dr. Niklaus Kohler, both at the University of Karlsruhe (TH). In addition to many other projects, Mr. Zak was involved in the federal research initiatives which led to the development of the DGNB System, and provided technical expertise during the roundtable discussions on sustainable building held by the BMVBS. As of June 2010 he is also a member of the Certification Committee and the Retail Buildings Working Group.

Further information:
Arbeitsgruppe Handelsbauten >>
DGNB Senior Auditor >>