Dipl.-Ing. Jan Zak

Dipl.-Ing. Jan Zak has worked at our company since June 2009. He has been the CEO since 2019.

After receiving a degree in architecture from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, he worked from 2005 to 2009 as a research assistant at the Institute of Sustainable Management of Housing and Real Estate, directed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Thomas Lützkendorf, and the Institute for Industrial Building Production, directed by Prof. Dr. Niklaus Kohler, both at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Alongside numerous other projects, Mr Zak participated in research projects of the federal government on the establishment and development of the German quality seal for sustainable building and provided scientific support to the Round Table on Sustainable Building of the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs. As an auditor, compliance monitor and trainer, he is actively involved in the DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council). From June 2010 until September 2011, he was a member of the Certification Committee of the DGNB. Since September 2011, he has been a member of the DGNB Technical Committee. He also served as the lead of various DGNB task forces, including the retail property task force and the venues task force. He also supervised many DGNB projects worldwide.

Mr Zak is one of the most experienced DGNB auditors in the world. He was one of the first auditors to receive the title of DGNB senior auditor from the DGNB.

Alongside his active committee work at the DGNB, Mr Zak participates in the DGNB Academy as a trainer in the area of auditor and consultant training. He has worked as a trainer in Austria, Russia, Denmark and the Netherlands, in addition to teaching many courses in Germany. He remains committed to teaching to this day. Since summer semester 2022, he has been a lecturer at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology in the faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering.

For many years, Mr Zak has worked intensively on certification and real estate management, with a focus on the issue of how large property portfolios can be managed sustainably and future-proof while ensuring legal compliance.  The topic includes strategies for achieving climate neutrality, along with providing advice on operator responsibilities & duties and computer-aided facility management (CAFM).

As an expert, Mr Zak is also a member of the energy task force and the portfolio task force of the German Property Federation (ZIA).