Matthias Schuler

Matthias Schuler is the founder of Transsolar Energietechnik in Stuttgart, Germany, and has been a Professor of Environmental Technology at the Graduate School of Design (GSD), Harvard University.
Transsolar has become a leading provider of consulting services on developing sustainable design strategies for buildings. The company also has offices in Munich and New York; and it has a strong technical basis, performing highly sophisticated computational simulations for concept validation. Transsolar states their mission as follows:

“Transsolar fosters innovation in the built environment. Our world deserves better than building-as-usual – over-engineered systems supporting static, placeless, unhealthy and uninspiring environments. Design and engineering must work together to reimagine the spaces that shape our lives.”

Schuler has worked with a large number of well-known architects on high-profile projects. He has, among others, collaborated on projects with Herzog/de Meuron (Parrish Art Museum, Topeak Towers); Stephen Holl (Linked Hybrid, Herning Art Museum); Behnisch, Behnisch and Partners (Nord LB, Skylofts, etc.); Jean Nouvel (Musee de la Mer, Philharmonie Paris, Louvre Abu Dhabi); Gehry Design Architects (Novartis, Museum of Tolerance, World Trade Center Performing Arts Center, etc.); Murphy/Jahn (New Bangkok International Airport, Posttower, etc.), and OMA (Center for Performing Arts, Museum Plaza). His design solutions are always innovative, and backed up by well-informed analytical studies that confirm their effectiveness within energy performance and user comfort.

Anna Denell

Anna Denell is Sustainability Director at the leading Swedish property company Vasakronan. Vaskronan owns and manages 180 properties with a total area of approx. 2,400,000 m2 (as of June 30, 2018); the portfolio is valued at SEK 134 billion. They highly prioritize environment and climate work, and has become a carbon neutral company and ISO 14001 certified. Vasakroan were also Sweden’s first property company to offer green leases and green offices.
In April 2018, Anna Denell received the Greenbuild Europe Leadership award, with the following motivation:

“Anna Denell, Sustainability Director at Vasakronan, has been instrumental in transforming the Swedish property industry and in advancing high-performing buildings in Europe. Under her leadership, Vasakronan has become a global leader in green building and a carbon neutral company. Vasakronan’s use of LEED volume certification and commitment to pursuing LEED for 100 percent of their portfolio serves as a model for the international community.”

Kjetil Trædal Thorsen

Kjetil Thorsen is co-founder and partner of Snøhetta. Thorsen has been instrumental in defining and developing Snøhetta’s philosophy, architectural ambition and projects such as the Library in Alexandria and the Oslo Opera and Ballet. Snøhetta has also been the architect of all the Norwegian Powerhouse projects, among these the first Norwegian Plus Energy Office Building in Norway, Powerhouse Kjørbo, and the landmark building Powerhouse Brattørkaia in Trondheim.

Kirsten Gram-Hanssen

Kirsten Gram-Hanssen is Professor at Aalborg University in Copenhagen, and leading the Research Group on Sustainable Cities and Everyday Practices. Her research focuses on sustainable consumption and everyday life in residential settings. She uses qualitative and quantitative methods, analysed within different theoretical approaches. Her research on energy and everyday life documents the variation in households' energy consumption and explores the explanations behind these as well as the drivers behind the growing energy consumption and how to deal with this. Kirsten Gram-Hanssen has been project leader on several national as well as international projects. In 2018 she was awarded and ERC Advanced Grant for the project eCAPE: Energy Consumer roles and smart technologies – Actors, Practices and Equality. She has published in numerous international journals and is in the editorial board for the journals Energy Research and Social Sciences and Buildings and Cities.

“New houses are using less energy than the old houses, even if people in new houses usually require higher comfort. But, we need to achieve very substantial energy reductions in our buildings, if we are to meet our climate goals. There is, in other words, a need to build energy efficient housing and to use the houses in an energy reducing way, in order to minimize our total energy consumption. ”

Harald Schnur

Harald Schnur, Division Director, Siemens Smart Infrastructure, Finland and Baltic countries

Siemens aims to be the world’s first major industrial company to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint by 2030. To achieve this, Siemens is focusing on four levers: energy efficiency, decentralized energy systems, intelligent e-mobility solutions, and the purchasing of clean electricity. Siemens has managed to reduce its CO2 emission by around 33% since the program launch in 2015. In 2016, Siemens joined the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC). In addition to the company’s own development, Siemens’ environmental portfolio contributed considerably to customers’ sustainability by reducing their CO2 emissions by more than 600 million metric tons in fiscal 2018.

Siemens Smart Infrastructure is shaping the market for intelligent, adaptive infrastructure for today and the future. This addresses the pressing challenges of urbanization and climate change by providing a new approach where intelligent energy meets smart buildings, ensuring intuitive responses to the needs of volatile energy markets. Siemens’ concrete solution is a new virtual power plant service which connects smart buildings to energy markets and enables them with new possibilities for efficiency, earnings, and flexibility. The unique virtual power plant service is provided from a recently established company, Vibeco Oy. The new company’s cloud-based smart energy platform lays the foundation for new digital services and for a smart and sustainable society. The basis for the solution include products, systems, solutions, and services that optimize the energy costs, reliability, comfort, and overall performance of buildings.

With an increasingly digitalized ecosystem, Siemens helps customers thrive and communities progress while contributing toward protecting the planet. Siemens creates environments that care.