Dr. Stefan Hess studied Environmental and Process Engineering in Augsburg, Germany. After his studies, he was with Fraunhofer ISE for six years as a project manager and researcher on solar thermal collectors and systems. Stefan received his PhD in Energy Engineering from De Montfort University Leicester in 2014. He was with Stellenbosch University for a two-year postdoctoral fellowship, where he conducted research and teaching on solar thermal process heat.

Since 2017, Stefan leads a research group on sustainable building energy technology in the Department of Sustainable Systems Engineering INATECH at Freiburg University. His current research focus is on energy-efficient building equipment, building refurbishment and on the integration of renewables in building energy systems with the aim of the climate-neutral building stock. He coordinates the thematic project network "LowEx-Bestand", in which low-exergy concepts and heat pump systems for refurbished multifamily buildings are developed, analyzed and demonstrated.

Besides SEE, Stefan teaches in the courses "Energy in Buildings" (Master Sustainable Systems Engineering) and "Technologies for Renewable Energy" (Bachelor of Sustainable Systems Engineering). He has supervised more than 30 Master-, Bachelor-, and Diploma theses, and he reviews articles for the scientific journals Solar Energy (Elsevier) and Renewable Energy (Elsevier).

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