Living Systems

What Living Systems does

Living Systems is a Berlin-based public-interest research and development practice founded in 2019, with a secondary office in Zürich and 1-10 employees, operating at the intersection of social and technological innovation for climate resilience. The company serves governments, NGOs, academia, and industry through a three-stage process spanning Research & Consulting (policy reports, white papers, feasibility studies, strategy), Product Development (software and hardware tools such as geospatial analysis, sensing systems, and context-specific recommendation engines), and Solution Implementation (deployment through partnerships and ventures). Its core technology stack includes interactive web applications, 3D data visualisation, AI-supported extraction pipelines, and IoT systems, with flagship products comprising Timber Computer (an open-source carbon impact calculator for construction using ÖKOBAUDAT LCA data), Scenarium (a browser-based 3D digital observatory for urban planning evidence), Coupling Ecosystems (a six-part bilingual geospatial research dossier on the Berlin-Brandenburg forest-to-city value chain), Bauhütte 4.0 (a feasibility study for an urban timber factory at Tegel Airport), and Water Sense (an open IoT system for soil moisture sensing deployed in Pakistan). The business model is project-based, combining professional services revenue with government grant funding from the European Union and three German Federal Ministries (Research/Technology/Space, Economics/Energy, Agriculture/Food/Regional Identity); the company maintains no publicly disclosed pricing or ARR and remains founder-owned by Leonard Schrage, an MIT research affiliate. A forward product roadmap includes VIS (a 2026 climate-responsive construction operating system), Echo (renovation knowledge infrastructure), Million Neighborhoods (generative AI for habitation), and Drawing Participation (collaborative mapping).

Name

Living Systems

Legal name

Living Systems GmbH

Website

https://living.systems

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Living Systems is a Berlin-based public-interest research and development practice that builds software, hardware, and policy research tools for climate resilience in construction and urban planning, serving governments, NGOs, academia, and industry through grant-funded and consulting projects.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research & Consulting Services: Living Systems produces research and advice for public and private partners including policy and scenario reports, innovation white papers, technical feasibility studies, and strategy.
2. Project Funding: Projects have been funded by the European Union, German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy, and German Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Living Systems is a public-interest research and development practice that produces research, design, and venture studio services focused on architecture, urban planning, and real estate. It builds software and hardware tools (geospatial analysis, sensing, and data tools, often as context-specific recommendation engines) and produces policy reports, white papers, feasibility studies, and strategies for public and private partners.

Product overview

Living Systems is a public-interest research and development practice that develops technologies and strategies for climate resilience. The portfolio consists of multiple distinct software tools and research initiatives organized around climate-responsive construction and urban planning. Core products include Timber Computer (interactive carbon footprint calculator for construction), Scenarium (3D navigable data observatory for urban futures), and Coupling Ecosystems (forest-to-city value chain research). These are supplemented by hardware products like Water Sense (IoT soil moisture sensing) and several forthcoming initiatives including Million Neighborhoods (generative AI for habitation), VIS (climate-responsive construction OS), and Echo (renovation knowledge infrastructure). Living Systems operates internationally with offices in Berlin and Zürich.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Timber Computer Interactive web tool that lets planners and project developers benchmark construction methods against their global warming potential using a configurable model house and ÖKOBAUDAT LCA data, supporting both early-stage design decisions and public procurement instruments for climate-friendly building.
• Scenarium Digital observatory that gathers heterogeneous urban planning material from reports, datasets, newsletters, and participation platforms into a single navigable 3D data space, with an AI-supported extraction pipeline, semantic embeddings, and a lens system (time, spatial, sustainability, custom) for re-sorting content along different axes.
• Coupling Ecosystems Cross-disciplinary investigation into the forest-to-city value chain of Berlin-Brandenburg, published as a six-part bilingual dossier with original geospatial analysis and a distributed symposium of expert talks, providing a policy basis for scaling regional timber construction.
• Bauhütte 4.0 Feasibility study for a gigafactory-like production unit and R&D center for urban timber construction at the former Tegel Airport in Berlin, designed to serve the Schumacher Quartier's 5,000+ housing units through an integrated forest-to-city value chain.
• Water Sense Open IoT system for soil moisture sensing deployed in agricultural settings, including maize fields in Pakistan, providing field-level environmental data for climate-resilient agriculture.
• Research & Consulting Services Project-based research and advisory work producing policy and scenario reports, innovation white papers, technical feasibility studies, and strategy for governments, NGOs, academia, and industry.
• Solution Implementation and Venture Deployment Deployment of Living Systems solutions through partnerships and ventures, including building dedicated ventures where a tool needs a home, plus knowledge sharing through publications, media, and teaching.

Quantifiable outcome

• Timber construction can turn cities into substantial natural carbon sinks, replacing reinforced concrete with timber and other renewable building materials cuts grey emissions significantly.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Neo-MetabolismminorOthersWebsite design partner credited in the website's footer along with Dinamo and Humans & Machines.
• Humans & MachinesminorOthersWebsite design partner credited in the website's footer along with Neo-Metabolism and Dinamo.
• DinamominorOthersWebsite design partner credited in the website's footer along with Neo-Metabolism and Humans & Machines.
• Fraunhofer IPKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject partner for Bauhütte 4.0, a feasibility study for a scalable urban timber factory and research hub on the grounds of former Tegel Airport in Berlin.
• HCU (HafenCity Universität Hamburg)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner for Scenarium project, initially built in and for Hamburg. HCU provides research and academic framework for the digital observatory.
• TriggercodecoreTechnology or IntegrationDevelopment partner for Scenarium, providing technical infrastructure for the browser-based application and digital observatory platform.
• TU BerlinminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner for Bauhütte 4.0 project alongside Fraunhofer IPK.
• Galina Churkina (Research)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch anchor for Coupling Ecosystems investigation, based on her research on buildings as a global carbon sink.
• Complex InstituteminorOthersHost of Coupling Ecosystems microsite publication at complex.institute/coupling-ecosystems.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Sidewalk Labs: Sidewalk Labs was Alphabet's urban innovation lab that built software products and masterplans for sustainable cities, making it a historically relevant incumbent analog to Living Systems' integrated urban-tech research practice, even though it has wound down.
• Arup: Arup is a global engineering and design consultancy with deep practice in sustainable buildings, carbon advisory, and urban resilience, providing a much larger, established counterpoint to Living Systems' consulting on construction carbon and urban timber strategy.
• MIT Senseable City Lab: MIT Senseable City Lab is an academic research lab that develops data-driven tools and visualizations for urban planning and the built environment, sharing Living Systems' research affiliation with MIT and its focus on geospatial, sensing, and interactive urban data products.

Direct peers

• Atelier Ten: Atelier Ten is an environmental design consultancy that supports sustainable building and masterplanning projects with rigorous performance analysis, directly comparable to Living Systems' work on construction carbon impact (Timber Computer) and timber-enabled urban development (Bauhütte 4.0).
• Superflux: Superflux is an award-winning design and research practice that develops speculative prototypes, installations, and tools for climate, urban, and societal futures, sharing Living Systems' blend of speculative design, public-interest framing, and software-led delivery.
• Tellart: Tellart is a design research studio that prototypes future-facing experiences and tools at the intersection of technology, environment, and society, paralleling Living Systems' practice of building bespoke software, IoT, and interactive tools for public-interest clients.
• Dark Matter Labs: Dark Matter Labs is a research and design practice that builds tools, frameworks, and ventures to address complex planetary and urban challenges, closely mirroring Living Systems' model of combining research, software tools, and venture deployment for climate and urban resilience.
• SPACE10: SPACE10 is a research and design lab that explores regenerative futures through exhibitions, publications, and digital tools, and has even hosted Living Systems' work (Regenerative Futures exhibition), making it a directly comparable research/design counterpart.

Others

• Fraunhofer IPK: Fraunhofer IPK is a major German applied-research institute for production systems and engineering, and is a core project partner of Living Systems on Bauhütte 4.0; it represents a vastly larger research counterpart working on industrializing urban timber construction.

Emerging players

• Architecture 2030: Architecture 2030 is a non-profit organization that issues climate targets and tools for the built environment, comparable to Living Systems in pushing carbon-conscious construction policy but operating as a thought-leadership and standards body rather than a software and consulting practice.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xbsky.app/profile/living.systems
• GitHubgithub.com/Living-Systems
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@living.systems
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/living-systems-research
• Instagraminstagram.com/living__systems

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Living Systems