BuildENVIRONMENT!

Niko Heeren

Industrial Ecology Scientist

About

I am an Adjunct Professor for Industrial Ecology at the Norwegian University of Science & Technology NTNU, a lecturer for Prospective Environmental Assessment at ETH Zurich, and sustainability specialist at the city of Zurich. Furthermore, I am a Data Editor at the journals of Industrial Ecology and Nature Scientific Data.

My research focuses on the analysis and forecast of environmental impacts of socio-economic systems, such as building stocks. In my work I often combine methods and tools from the environmental and computational science disciplines to develop, for instance, probabilistic approaches for big data analysis.

Education

Doctor of Sciences in Environmental Engineering, 2017

ETH Zurich
MSc ClimaDesign, 2011

TU Munich
MAS Architecture & Développement Durable, 2008

EPF Lausanne
BSc Environmental & Resource Management, 2006

TU Cottbus

Skills

Building & Building stocks Analysis

Thermal simulation, BIM, certification, etc.

Open Sustainability Science

Research & Teaching in Industrial Ecology, LCA, MFA, etc.

Computer modelling

Python, SQL, GIS, Big data, etc.

Experience

Adjunct Professor for Industrial Ecology

Norwegian University of Science & Technology NTNU

Jan 2020 – Present Trondheim, Norway

Specialist for Sustainable Construction

Jan 2020 – Present Zurich, Switzerland

Lecturer

Jan 2017 – Present Zurich, Switzerland

Postdoctoral Associate

Yale University, Center for Industrial Ecology

Jan 2018 – Oct 2019 New Haven, USA

Teacher & Consultant in Building Simulation and Certification

E4tech Software Ltd. (Lesosai)

Jan 2010 – Dec 2019 Lausanne, Switzerland

Postdoctoral Researcher

Jan 2017 – Dec 2018 Zurich, Switzerland

Chair of Ecological System Design and Chair of Sustainable Construction

PhD Student

ETH Zurich, Chair of Ecological System Design, Institute of Environmental Engineering

Mar 2012 – Dec 2016 Zurich, Switzerland

Research Assistant

ETH Zurich, Chair of Sustainable Construction, Institute of Construction & Infrastructure Management

Mar 2008 – Feb 2012 Zurich, Switzerland

Guest Lecturer

École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Strasbourg

Mar 2008 – Jun 2010 Strasbourg, France

Blog

Updates, thoughts, and rants

UN report RECC Webinar

Want to learn more about our work behind the report to the G7 and United Nations Environment Programme? In two 1,5 hour webinars we offer an in-depth view into our modelling work and the policy piece by Reid Lifset. Modelling Policy

Niko Heeren, Edgar Hertwich

Mar 25, 2021 1 min read

UN report RECC Webinar

End of 2019 IEDC Update

Yes – data science is hard, especially in the Industrial Ecology domain. Therefore, we launched the Industrial Ecology Data Commons (IEDC) earlier this year. It allows researcher to quickly download data from important Industrial Ecology research papers. In a final update for this year, we uploaded another 10+ datasets to the Industrial Ecology Data Commons (IEDC) server. With that update, the database now holds approximately 1.1 million data points from more than 180 datasets.

Niko Heeren, Stefan Pauliuk

Dec 18, 2019 1 min read

End of 2019 IEDC Update

Featured Publications

Browse all publications here 🔍

Please contact me for more information or if you have difficulty accessing publications.

Technologies and policies to decarbonize global industry: Review and assessment of mitigation drivers through 2070

Fully decarbonizing global industry is essential to achieving climate stabilization, and reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by …

Jeffrey Rissman, Chris Bataille, Eric Masanet, Nate Aden, William R Morrow, Nan Zhou, Neal Elliott, Rebecca Dell, Niko Heeren, Brigitta Huckestein, Joe Cresko, Sabbie Miller, Joyashree Roy, Paul Fennell, Betty Cremmins, Thomas Koch Blank, David Hone, Ellen D. Williams, Stephane de la Rue du Can, Bill Sisson, Mike Williams, John Katzenberger, Dallas Burtraw, Girish Sethi, He Ping, David Danielson, Hongyou Lu, Tom Lorber, Jens Dinkel, Jonas Helseth

Technologies and policies to decarbonize global industry: Review and assessment of mitigation drivers through 2070

Resource Efficiency and Climate Change: Material Efficiency Strategies for a Low-Carbon Future

This report was developed by the IRP in response to a request by leaders of the Group of 7 nations in the context of efforts to promote resource efficiency as a core element of sustainable development. It conducts a rigorous assessment of the contribution of material efficiency to GHG abatement strategies. More concretely, it assesses the reduction potential of GHG emissions from material efficiency strategies applied in residential buildings and light duty vehicles, and reviews policies that address these strategies.

Edgar Hertwich, Reid Lifset, Stefan Pauliuk, Niko Heeren

Resource Efficiency and Climate Change: Material Efficiency Strategies for a Low-Carbon Future

Bridging the gap: enhancing material efficiency in residential buildings and cars

Research has shown that demand-side material efficiency offers substantial GHG mitigation opportunities that are complementary to those …

Edgar Hertwich, Reid Lifset, Stefan Pauliuk, Niko Heeren, Saleem Ali, Peter Berrill, Tomer Fishman, Qingshi Tu, Paul Wolfram

Bridging the gap: enhancing material efficiency in residential buildings and cars

A Database Seed for a Community-driven Material Intensity Research Platform

The data record contains Material Intensity data for buildings (MI). MI coefficients are often used for different types of analysis of …

Niko Heeren, Tomer Fishman

A Database Seed for a Community-driven Material Intensity Research Platform

Tracking Construction Material over Space and Time: Prospective and Geo-referenced Modeling of Building Stocks and Construction Material Flows

Construction material plays an increasingly important role in the environmental impacts of buildings. In order to investigate impacts …

Niko Heeren, Stefanie Hellweg

Tracking Construction Material over Space and Time: Prospective and Geo-referenced Modeling of Building Stocks and Construction Material Flows

Publications

Please contact me for more information or if you have difficulty accessing publications.

Eric Masanet, Niko Heeren, Shigemi Kagawa, Jonathan Cullen, Reid Lifset, Richard Wood (2021). Material efficiency for climate change mitigation. Journal of Industrial Ecology.

Tomer Fishman, Niko Heeren, Stefan Pauliuk, Peter Berrill, Qingshi Tu, Paul Wolfram, Edgar Hertwich (2021). A comprehensive set of global scenarios of housing, mobility, and material efficiency for material cycles and energy systems modelling. 2021.

Claude Leyder, Michael Klippel, Olin Bartlomé, Niko Heeren, Sarah Kissling, Yutaka Goto, Andrea Frangi (2021). Investigations on the Sustainable Resource Use of Swiss Timber. Sustainability.

Stefan Pauliuk, Niko Heeren (2020). Material efficiency and its contribution to climate change mitigation in Germany: A deep decarbonization scenario analysis until 2060. Journal of Industrial Ecology.

Farzin Golzar, Niko Heeren, Stefanie Hellweg, Ramin Roshandel (2020). Optimisation of energy-efficient greenhouses based on an integrated energy demand-yield production model. Biosystems Engineering.

Stefan Pauliuk, Niko Heeren, Peter Berrill, Tomer Fishman, Andrea Nistad, Qingshi Tu, Paul Wolfram, Edgar Hertwich (2020). Global Scenarios of Resource and Emissions Savings from Systemic Material Efficiency in Buildings and Cars.

See all publications