Thomas Rau

About Thomas Rau

Guided by the Future

He received the Dutch Circular Hero Award in 2021 for his tireless pioneering work for a circular economy. The German Sustainability Award (cat. construction) was awarded to him in 2024 with Madaster Germany.

Thomas Rau is an entrepreneur, architect, innovator, inspirer and visionary. His motto is ‘guided by the future’. Everything he does is driven by what will be needed in the future, not what is feasible at the moment. Thomas Rau identifies tomorrow’s challenges and uses his enthusiasm, energy and humour to convince his audiences and clients that they need to take radical steps to make sustainability work.

The one-dimensional foundation of our linear economy has brought us much – but it now threatens to undermine everything it has created. As we become increasingly dependent on the resources of our closed system, we are jeopardizing the availability of those very resources.
We will have to completely change the way we organize our economies. Not only do we need to reassess our place on the planet, we also need to recalibrate the relationship between humans and the planet. Exactly what that relationship will look like is something we will have to work out together over the coming years – but Thomas has no shortage of practical ideas to help make the transition.

He not only talks the talk, he walks the walk. With his architecture firm RAU he has introduced several innovations and developed the first standards for carbon- and energy-neutral building. The office is now the authority on energy-positive buildings and circular architecture and is designing, for example, the circular Dutch pavilion for the World Expo 2025 in Osaka.

With Turntoo, Thomas created some of the very first examples of circular economy concepts and business models. He pioneered the concept of ‘pay per lux’, where lighting is no longer sold but provided as a service. Together with a white goods manufacturer and a housing association, he offers the most energy-efficient washing machines and refrigerators to social housing tenants on a performance basis.

He is known for his stimulating and highly original thinking. This, combined with his sharp humour and confrontational way of asking questions, makes him a welcome guest at meetings aimed at broadening our spiritual horizons. Those who invite Thomas know that the discussion will be neither comfortable nor compliant.

Thomas is an internationally acclaimed speaker. He delivers keynote speeches at major conferences and addresses smaller audiences of board members, policymakers and politicians. He inspires and motivates people around the world and across a wide range of industries through numerous international publications, lectures, TV and radio interviews and podcasts.

In addition to numerous architectural awards, he received the Circular Hero Award 2021 for his tireless pioneering for a circular economy, followed by the ULI Germany Leadership Award for Urban Innovation in 2022. With Madaster Germany, he received the Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitspreis (German Sustainability Award, construction category) in 2024.