Professor Lamia Messari-Becker

"The world is growing by 2.5 people per second. At the same time, large parts of humanity have no access to housing, energy, education and healthcare. Resource consumption will therefore increase. Our only chance to combine different needs with the SDGs doesn't lie in doing without, but in technical and social innovations – interdisciplinary, cooperative and networked. We need not less but much more curiosity, ideas and knowledge transfer. How great that Green Talents are looking for solutions!"

Head of the Department of Building Technology and Building Physics at University of Siegen

Prof. Lamia Messari-Becker is head of the Department of Building Technology and Building Physics at the University of Siegen. In practice, research and policy advice, Lamia Messari-Becker works on resource efficiency, sustainability, climate protection and climate adaptation at different levels: Buildings, neighbourhoods and cities.

Lamia Messari-Becker investigates the use of resource-conserving materials and the reduction of CO2 emissions from an economic and ecological perspective. She also works on holistic methods and life cycle assessments of construction materials and buildings, as a part of a circular economy. At the interface of technology, economic and social issues, Lamia Messari-Becker deals with strategies of energy-efficient refurbishment, energy transition in the building sector and cities, neighbourhood approaches including citizen participation and their role in climate protection and resilience strategies of communities.

Lamia Messari-Becker is member of the Club of Rome and former member of the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU). She is also member of the Expert Panel Future of Construction of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building. Lamia Messari-Becker is also member of the Future Council for Sustainable Development Rhineland-Palatine and was participant of the International Visitor Leadership Program of the U.S. Department of State.

Born in Morocco, Lamia Messari-Becker studied Civil Engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt and received her diploma in 2001. From 2001 to 2009, she worked as a research assistant at the Technical University of Darmstadt. In 2006, she received her PhD from this university on the topic of “Concept for Sustainable Emission Reduction in Existing Residential Buildings Including CO2 Certificates”. In 2005, she completed postgraduate studies in Management at the Technical University of Karlsruhe (now KIT). From 2009 to 2014, she worked in an international planning office in Frankfurt am Main, where she was responsible for building physics, energy efficiency, and sustainability. Since 2013 she has held a professorship at the University of Siegen.