He is a registered architect in Germany, consultant, researcher, and lecturer in the field of sustainable architecture and urbanism. He coordinated international research projects, organized conferences and summer academies, is a member of scientific committees and editorial boards, and is author and editor of high-impact journal publications. Thorsten is a founding member of the Korean German Research Center for Sustainable Urban Development and Mobility (KoGeRec). He is also an active member of the International Conference on Urbanism (IFoU) since he was Assistant Professor at TU Delft in The Netherlands from 2006 to 2012. In 2005, he obtained his Ph.D. at the Faculty for Architecture and Landscape of the Leibniz University Hanover, Germany.
The research focus is on Integrated Design of Low-Energy, Passive and Zero Emission Buildings and Districts, Resource Efficiency in Architecture and Planning, Water Sensitive Urban Planning and Design, Urban Resilience, as well as Climate Adaptation & Mitigation of Climate Change in low-, middle- and high-income countries. His research on decentralized infrastructure systems include technically and nature-orientated systems for the management of energy, organic wastes, and water (including rainwater, sewage, water supply, sanitation, surface, and underground water), the greening of space and buildings, as well as the production of food and renewable energy. Thorsten is currently leading a research and development project on a smart, sustainable, carbon-neutral, and emission-free building renovation system. The design and evaluation of the renovation system and the renovation strategies involve Building Information Modeling (BIM) Parametric Workflows and Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA).
