As Executive Director of BPIE, Oliver has spearheaded strategic planning, administration, program development, fundraising and outreach since joining BPIE during its infancy in 2011. Through his leadership, Oliver has grown BPIE into a financially independent non-profit organization and trusted thought leader on energy performance of buildings in Europe and globally.

Before joining BPIE, Oliver worked for the global conservation organization WWF in various roles, including as Head of the Climate Business Engagement unit of WWF International, managing strategy and partnership development with the private sector. Leading an international team, he advised multinational companies on climate change and energy issues.

Oliver’s experience in buildings efficiency goes back to the late 90s when he was a project leader for several deep renovation projects on behalf of WWF in cooperation with housing companies across Germany. Oliver participated in UNFCCC negotiation processes, and was the leader of the German NGO coalition at international conferences. Oliver has been active as a jury member of environmental and sustainability awards and serves on various advisory boards. In his early career, he worked on regional sustainability strategies and spatial planning.

She holds a Master degree in Business Administration and gained twelve years of professional expertise by working for SME’s and multinational corporations in France, Belgium and Germany.

During this time, she managed finance and process related projects all around the world.

Today her biggest motivation is to support the company making the right financial decisions as she believes in the company’s purpose.

In her free time, Elodie enjoys roaming the playgrounds of Brussels with her two little sons.

Hélène SIBILEAU joined BPIE in February 2021 as Senior Policy Advisor. Before that, she was Senior EU Affairs Manager for almost six years at EuroACE – Energy Efficient Buildings, a Brussels-based business association representing manufacturers of energy efficient products in buildings. At EuroACE, she advocated for more ambitious EU policies in the field of energy performance of buildings, and lobbied the negotiations of key files of the Clean Energy for All Europeans Package. Hélène’s missions ranged from monitoring, policy analysis, drafting amendments and implementing advocacy strategies towards the EU institutions. Previous experiences include a Blue Book Traineeship in the European Commission in the ‘Energy Efficiency’ Unit of DG ENER and various roles as consultant.

A graduate of both Sciences Po Strasbourg and the College of Europe, where she wrote her Master Thesis on the Energy Efficiency Directive, she also teaches for many years now at Sciences Po Strasbourg, notably courses on ‘Lobbying in Practice’ or ‘The Energy Transition’. Hélène is French, and also speaks English and German. Besides energy efficiency in buildings, Hélène’s passions include horse riding, playing badminton, reading books, and continuing to learn more about European history.

Prior to joining BPIE, Sarah gathered experiences in European and international institutions in Paris and Brussels, where she carried out administrative and human resources functions. During this time, she provided business support to high-level stakeholders and gained experience with procedures, protocols and rules of governance within headquarters and a regional office.

Prior to working for institutions, she worked for a EU federation representing the interest of the bioenergy sector as an Office Manager based in Brussels. During this experience, she gained a thorough knowledge in the day-to-day business operations of an EU association working closely with the EU institutions.

She holds a Master degree in Translation and International Relations from ULB.

When Sarah isn’t working, she can be found walking in nature, dancing bachata, trying new recipes and spending time with her family.

Jelena is as a Senior Project Manager who brought to BPIE more than 15 years of global work experience in energy efficiency, renewable energy, electricity & carbon markets, and clean technology fields. Prior to joining BPIE Jelena was with RWE Renewables, where she was working on renewable market development in the US and Asia. Besides working on corporate business development, Jelena’s experiences include advocacy (Transport & Environment), project management (Global CCS Institute); market analytics & strategy development (Refinitiv), as well as policy, technical and market analytics for numerous clients in Europe, United States and Asia such as the California Attorney General’s Office, the World Bank, the Hoover Institution, and many others. In her country of birth, Serbia, Jelena worked with the Alliance to Save Energy, where she implemented the first national energy-efficiency curriculum in schools and worked with local municipalities on energy efficiency improvements in public buildings.

Jelena earned a Master of Public Policy (MPP) and Master of Science (MS) in Energy & Resources degrees at the University of California, Berkeley. There, at the Haas School of Business and the School of Engineering she also specialized at Engineering and Business for Sustainability, and for Management of Technology. At Chuo University in Tokyo, Jelena studied Japanese medieval history, while her bachelor’s in Japanese Language and Culture she earned at University of Belgrade. She is a published author fluent in four languages.

In her free time, Jelena likes to develop fusion recipes inspired by tastes of 8 countries she lived in, and is a fitness instructor. Her goal is to motivate people aged 40+ who may have forgotten to take time for themselves to do so, help them get back in shape and stay healthy for years to come.

Before joining BPIE, Carla worked as a communication consultant at Arctik (Technopolis Group) managing Horizon 2020 projects on sustainability topics. Her main experience on research and science communication was however built during her time at the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST Association) as a communications officer. There she was in charge of developing publications and audiovisual projects as well as supervising the development and implementation of the COST branding.

Thanks to a couple of internships in international organizations including the United Nations and the European Parliament, Carla realized she loves working in multicultural environments and on projects with a social impact. 

Carla holds a MA in journalism, media and communications from Cardiff University (Wales) and a BA in humanities from the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. She is a Catalan and Spanish native speaker and is also fluent in English and French. 

In her free time, Carla enjoys spending quality time with her family and friends, discovering new brocantes or taking care of her plants. 

Michaella joined BPIE in September 2024 as Communications Intern. She has graduated with a BA from the University of Sheffield in Korean studies and is finishing her MS from the University of Edinburgh in East Asian Relations. She has recently been presented with The Edinburgh Award for extra curricular activities in her project of ‘Leveraging AI and digital accessibility in the University” in line with the UN’s sustainability goals.

Michaella speaks 4 languages including English, Russian, French and Korean and is planning on expanding this list with Mandarin. In her spare time Michaella enjoys dancing and reading books and as a foodie enjoys trying out new
cuisines.

In the previous six years, Victoria has been researching policies to promote energy efficiency in the residential sector. In 2019 she received a PhD at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts, Hasselt University. Her research focused on evidence-based, behaviourally-informed policies to encourage energy renovation. Using insights from behavioural economics, she analysed the efficacy of the Flemish energy label for dwellings and investigated private homeowners’ decision-making regarding energy renovation. During the postdoc, Victoria worked on the RETAX Project, which aimed at reforming the property tax in Belgium to contribute to energy efficiency and sustainable land use. She has experience collaborating with public agencies and stakeholders in elaborating evidence-based policies; and is advocating for tighter collaboration between policymakers and researchers.

Victoria holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Sustainable Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Turin.

Besides her passion for the environment, Victoria enjoys volunteering for the community, politics, photography and piano.

As a Project Manager at BPIE, Denisa is directly engaged in the coordination and implementation of various projects that aim at enabling the decarbonization of the built environment.

Previously to BPIE, Denisa was a Senior Researcher at Energy Policy Group, the leading energy and climate think-tank in Romania. In that position, she carried out policy research on energy related issues, particularly energy efficiency and circular economy. During her studies, she was involved in several international research projects regarding political representation and electoral behavior.

She holds an MA in Energy Business from the University of Economic Studies (Bucharest), a master’s degree in Political Theory and Policy Analysis and a bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences, both from the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Bucharest). Due to her background, she pays particular attention and shows genuine interest in the social impacts the energy policies have among different social groups. She is also an alumna of Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET).

In her spare time, she is either at the cinema or doing bouldering.

Richard joined BPIE in August 2024 as a Finance and Operations Officer. He began his career with an apprenticeship at the Bavarian State Bank in Munich, which he then complemented with a B.A. in International Business Administration, majoring in International Economic Relations and Politics, from Euro-FH in Hamburg. During his studies, Richard worked at the Bavarian State Bank in Munich for a total of seven years.
Driven by a desire to make a more tangible difference, Richard decided to pursue an M.Sc. in International Development and Public Policy at Nova SBE in Lisbon. This experience sparked his interest in working in an international and intercultural environment, contributing to shaping policies for a greener and more equitable future.
Richard is German and speaks German, English, and Portuguese. In his free time, he enjoys doing various sports such as football, padel, fitness, and cycling, as well as exploring new restaurants or trying new recipes at home.

A researcher and energy analyst with over 12 years of broad work experience in a variety of international projects related to sustainability in buildings and building related technologies, including green building and energy certification, building energy performance simulation and compliance, energy and IEQ monitoring, technoeconomic feasibility studies, and policy advice and outreach

Liz Eve is joining the BPIE Berlin Office as Team Assistant in June 2023. Passionate about architecture, stories and solutions, Liz has worked with a number of organizations in the built environment on creative, business management and communication projects. She enjoys improving processes and supporting teams.

Liz began her academic career with BSc in psychology, writing her dissertation on economic psychology, well-being and debt. Her creative side was calling and she won a scholarship to study photography in Bristol. She became interested in how people and organisations make decisions in relation to environmental change, particularly how visual communication leads to climate action. Studying part-time for an MSc in sustainability and adaptation has brought her deeper into topics in environmental politics, economics, building and city design and transformative adaptation to climate change.

Since moving to Berlin in 2012 she became German, qualified as a permaculture designer and published a book about food forest gardening at Café Botanico. She is a committee member for urban gardening project Feld Food Forest and helped to kick off the EU-Horizon-funded Open Soil Atlas to inspire local people to actively participate in citizen science.

She loves swimming in Berlin’s lakes or wandering in woodlands with family and friends.

Carolina Koronen is joining BPIE Brussels Office in June 2023 as Senior Researcher for Carbon and Energy in the Built Environment. 

She graduated from Lund University in 2018 with a master in Environmental Engineering and spent her early career in interdisciplinary energy systems research, first at Lund University and later at Vrije Universiteit Brussels. Her most recent work experience prior to joining BPIE was as Programme Manager at Environmental Coalition on Standards where the main focus of her work was on technical standards and policies for sustainable products and for the phase-out of fluorinated greenhouse gases. 

In her spare time, Carolina sings in a choir, goes trail running with her dog, or searches for gems at antiques markets.

Essam joined BPIE in September 2023 as a Data analyst.

Bringing with him a deep understanding of climate change mitigation strategies in the building sector, Essam firmly believes that effective strategies in the building sector can play a pivotal role in achieving sustainability goals. For instance, he envisions leveraging advanced data analytics to optimize energy consumption patterns in buildings, contributing to substantial reductions in carbon emissions.

Hailing from Egypt, Essam began with a degree in Electrical Engineering, but his passion for energy prompted him to pursue a Master’s in Energy Engineering at TU Berlin. His dedication was rewarded with a DAAD fellowship, allowing him to research technology sets in nearly zero-energy buildings at Fraunhofer-ISE in Freiburg, Germany.

Prior to joining BPIE, Essam conducted his doctoral research at the University of Liège in Belgium, focusing on the intricate relationship between climate change and the energy performance of buildings and their impact on the electricity grid. His research not only addressed technical aspects but also delved into the broader implications for the built environment in Belgium.
Beyond his professional pursuits, Essam’s commitment extends to community engagement. He actively serves as a Board member at EIT Climate-KIC alumni and holds the role of Belgium Country representative in YES-EUROPE.

In his free time, Essam is playing football or exploring new places with his camera and drone.

As Senior Project Manager in the BPIE Berlin Office, Lisa will be involved in both, BPIE’s research activities as well as in the outreach to German stakeholders.

Lisa has been working on concepts and policies supporting the transformations towards climate neutrality and sustainability for more than a decade now.

Before joining BPIE, she conducted research projects at the Environmental Policy Research Centre, Freie Universität Berlin (2011 – 2019). Over six years, she consulted the strategy process and supported the stakeholder engagement of the German National Resource Efficiency Program (ProgRess). Besides that, she had also extensively worked on the dynamics of transformation processes, as well as environmental strategy processes – translating the findings into concrete guidelines or recommendations for policy makers, in particular for the German Ministry of the Environment.

From mid-2019 onwards, Lisa coordinated projects at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy (Berlin Office), with a focus on sustainable resource use in cities of the Global South. For her academic endeavors, she also held a position at Habitat Unit at the Technical University of Berlin, coordinating capacity building and academic writing under the Urban Change Maker project.

Lisa holds a Diploma in Political Science and a B.A. in Communication Science. She had the opportunity to spend time abroad in Peru (voluntary service), Spain (Erasmus) and, thanks to a DAAD Scholarship, at The Resource and Energy Institute in India.

In her spare time, Lisa enjoys rock climbing, to discover adventures with her family in everyday life and beyond, and to contribute to neighbourhood initiatives to increase the liveability of the city.

Prior to joining BPIE, Caroline completed her interdisciplinary PhD on sustainable transitions in the social housing system in England at the University of Bradford. She holds an MSc in Psychological Research from Oxford University and a BSc in Psychology from Essex University.

Caroline’s PhD focused on systems thinking and combining theories and concepts from a variety of different disciplines. This allowed her to combine her previous work experience on sustainable buildings and environmental psychology, as well as learning new theories particularly in engineering, transitions studies, and housing studies. Caroline has worked and lived in three different countries – Germany, the UK, and the USA. Her journey took her from a primary focus on environmental psychology to a policy focus on sustainable buildings in the social housing sector. She also enjoys teaching and has worked in a few higher education institutions in areas such as statistics, research methods, environmental psychology, social psychology, and sustainable cities.

Caroline is active as a volunteer in areas combining climate and energy justice and increasing our understanding of the interconnectedness of different areas, such as health, biodiversity, energy poverty, quality housing, and greening our living environments.

In her free time, she likes to read non-fiction, crochet realistic-looking flowers (she has too many, please take them off her hands!), be active, be outdoors, and travel the world, preferably by train.

Volodymyr joined BPIE in March 2023 as Policy Assistant.

Before joining he completed a Blue Book traineeship in the European Commission in the ‘Buildings and Products’ Unit of DG ENER. There he obtained first-hand experience with the energy efficiency in buildings policy, assisting the Unit with various tasks, performing analysis and supporting negotiations of the EPBD recast.

Volodymyr is a recent graduate from the College of Europe, where he majored in EU Public Affairs and Policies with a particular focus on energy policy. Additionally, Volodymyr is a fellow of the European Leadership Programme and an active member of European youth organizations, such as BETA Poland and JEF Ukraine. He is passionate about energy transition, digital transformation, European identity and integration.

Volodymyr is Ukrainian, he speaks Ukrainian, English, Polish and Russian. In his free time, Volodymyr enjoys studying and reading non-fiction books, participating in philosophical and political discussions, attending cultural events and art exhibitions, and doing sports.

Emily joined BPIE in April 2023 as a researcher for Carbon and Energy in the Built Environment.

She recently finished the Blue Book Traineeship at DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission, where she worked on cluster 5 of Horizon Europe and various Green Deal files. She graduated from the Erasmus Mundus Master in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (MESPOM) in summer 2022 where she focused her research on the connection between energy, urban transitions, and ecological economics. In her Bachelor in Technology and Liberal Arts and Science at University College Twente she specialised in resource management and circular economy.

Besides, Emily has worked in different grassroots movements while living in Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Sweden, often in the role of a facilitator or coordinator for political education activities on climate topics and interrelated crises.

In her free time, Emily is a youth climate advocate, previously at Generation Climate Europe or the European Forum Alpbach, and most recently at the European Youth Energy Network. She also sings, dances Lindy Hop, climbs, and enjoys discovering cultural places in the city.

Jerson joined BPIE in March 2023 as a Researcher

He considers that the transformation of the energy and building sectors is crucial to achieve the sustainable development of urban regions while enabling social innovation, decarbonization of many of our daily activities, and the creation of livable spaces for everyone.

Jerson studied Electrical engineering in Colombia. Later, his interest in buildings and energy led him to focus his masters’ studies at the university of Campinas in Brazil on the integration of microgrids and smart buildings. Prior to joining BPIE, Jerson was a researcher at the Civil systems engineering institute at TU Berlin, where he focused on the building renovation field and the digitalization of the construction industry.

Jerson also conducted his doctoral research at TU Berlin. As part of his dissertation, he developed a decision-making framework and a set of knowledge models to support a more comprehensive renovation of buildings, considering not only technical and economic aspects, but also social elements. Jerson considers that technical solutions and policy strategies to tackle climate challenges should thoroughly consider the social aspects of the context where they are meant to be implemented.

In his free time, Jerson enjoys playing volleyball, painting, and walking around Berlin with his camera.