Decarbonising Buildings & Building Materials

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Speakers	(key questions see below)

Markus Koschenz, CEO, Reuss Engineering AG; Member of the Board, Implenia Real Estate

Markus Koschenz works for Reuss Engineering AG, since 2009 as Chief Executive. Reuss Engineering is a subsidiary of Implenia. Between 1992 and 2005 he worked as a researcher in the building technology section at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa). In 1995 he completed a period as visiting researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories. He holds a Master in Building Technology.

Erika Meins, Senior Researcher, Center for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CCRS), University of Zurich

With CCRS since 2005, Erika Meins heads interdisciplinary projects with a focus on the economic sustainability of real estate and on assessing sustainability in real estate and corporations. Prior, she led the Labor Market Observatory for ten Swiss cantons and worked at the Center for International Studies at the ETH Zurich. She holds a PhD in political science from the University of Zurich.

Andreas Schläpfer, Founder, schlaepfer:associates

Andreas' company delivers services with a focus on sustainability in the construction sector, facility management of buildings and related procurement practices. As member of the Swiss EPEA network (Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency), he applies the cradle-to-cradle concept to these areas. Prior, Andreas was MD of a constuction SME and Head Internal Environmental Management at Swiss Re. He holds a BA in Landscape Architecture, Business Administration and an MSc from the University of Bath.

Stefan Seitz, Director, Energy & Environmental Solutions, Siemens AG

Siemens Building Technologies helps to reduce energy/water use and CO2 emissions of buildings. As a member of senior management, Stefan works to achieve Siemens' in-house emission targets within South/West Europe and to support customers to implement their sustainability programs. He holds a Master in mechanical engineering from the Technical University of Munich and a Diploma in General Management.

Facilitator: Markus Nöthiger, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

Markus has 15 years+ of professional experience in corporate responsibility and has been leading projects in the field of managing extra-financial value drivers, corporate sustainability, integrity, governance, brand and reputation management. With PwC since 2001, he leads the PwC's Swiss sustainability services. He worked at legacy-Swiss Bank Corporation (later UBS) from 1994-98. In 1998 he founded his own consulting company and served as an outsourcing partner for UBS and other financial services companies.

Key Questions

What are readily available low-carbon technologies, materials, and services in the building sector?
What role can energy savings contracting play, what can Energy Services Companies (ESCOs) contribute?
What role can leasing schemes play, what is "cradle-to-cradle" in this context?
What kind of standards and valuation methods for sustainable buildings are available? (e.g. "ESI Immobilienbewertung", LEED, Minergie, energy star, etc.)
How do we deal with the fact that the major lever for energy efficiency lies within existing building stock, not within newly built real estates?
What kind of barriers keep us from making beneficial investments? (questions of ownership (tenants-landlords), life-cycle costing, short-termism, etc.)
What are useful incentives for portfolio managers and company CEOs to invest in more sustainable real estates?