Getachew Assefa

Position: Associate Professor of Sustainable Design

Department: School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, University of Calgary

Dr. Getachew Assefa is Associate Professor of Sustainable Design, at the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, University of Calgary. He is the former Athena Chair in Life Cycle Assessment at the Faculty of Environmental Design. His research interest includes life cycle sustainability assessment, built environment assessment, industrial ecology, and sustainable consumption focusing on design and development of technical systems including energy systems, biofuels and bioenergy, waste management system, and buildings. He teaches courses in life cycle assessment, industrial ecology and sustainable design. He was winner of University of Calgary’s Sustainability Award for 2017 for Campus as Learning Lab Category, and Outstanding Teaching Performance Award from Schulich School of Engineering in 2015 and 2016. His research has been published in well-known journals in his area such as Journal of Cleaner Production, International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, Journal of Building and Environment, and Journal of Sustainable Cities and Society. He has a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; MSc in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Infrastructure and Ph.D. in Industrial Ecology from Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. His over twenty years of experience of teaching and research covers Canada, Sweden, China and Ethiopia. He also consults in the area of product sustainability positioning and life cycle assessment.