Dr Niklaus Kohler is an architect and researcher. He worked in R&D in both the building industry and academe. His PhD was on Global Energy Consumption of Buildings during their Life Cycle. From 1978 to 1992 he directed research projects in the material science department (performance of materials) and the physics department (energy simulation) at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). He was member of the steering committee of three national technology transfer programs (Impulsprogramme).

He is an Emeritus Professor and past-Director of the Institute of Industrial Building Production (ifib) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (formerly University of Karlsruhe). After retirement, he was a senior lecturer at ETH Zurich and a guest professor at Tianjin University, China. He was President of the Scientific Council of the CSTB (France) and member of steering committees of research programs and scientific institutions in Germany, France, Switzerland, UK, Sweden, Austria, China. His main research domains are:

• Life cycle analysis of buildings and building stocks
• Application of Information Technologies in comprehensive, distributed design

www.nkohler.eu