Christoph Reinhart

Christoph Reinhart, a physicist-turned-building scientist, serves as Professor and Director of the Building Technology Program at MIT, where he leads the Sustainable Design Lab focusing on sustainable building design and environmental modeling. His journey began with physics degrees from Albert Ludwigs Universität and Simon Fraser University before earning his doctorate in architecture from the Technical University of Karlsruhe. Before joining MIT in 2012, he worked at the National Research Council of Canada, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, and Harvard's Graduate School of Design, where he was named Teacher of the Year in 2009. His research spans daylighting, urban-level environmental building performance, and sustainable design, leading to the development of widely-used tools and two successful companies - Solemma, where he serves as CEO, and Mapdwell, where he was a co-founder and strategic advisor until its acquisition by Palmetto Clean Technology in 2021. His work has garnered numerous prestigious awards, including the Fraunhofer Bessel Prize, IBPSA-USA Distinguished Achievement Award, and Star of Building in Science award, while his companies have received recognition from FastCompany and Sustainia 100. He has authored over 160 peer-reviewed articles, including two influential textbooks on daylighting, and his design tools are used in over 90 countries. His recent work extends to urban agriculture and food production efficiency, developing software to estimate food yields and environmental impacts of urban farms, while continuing to mentor the next generation of sustainable design experts.