Company history

Ernst Basler, a Swiss national, founded the enterprise in 1981 based on his conviction that sustainable development – and with it the preservation of the earth as our vital habitat – could be achieved via an interdisciplinary approach involving the close cooperation of engineers, natural scientists, social scientists and other scholars.

Having concluded at a very early stage that a model of development based on exponential growth and finite natural resources was ultimately doomed to fail, Basler encouraged a broad-based reconsideration of our systems of energy supply and our wasteful approach to resources in general. Frequently asked what in particular needed to be done, Basler was determined to implement his ideas in the form of a private engineering firm that he founded together with Ernst Hofmann in 1963. Daring to go a step further and engage in an experiment, Basler founded the Interdisciplinary Group for Long-Term Planning in 1971, despite the fact that the prospects of landing contracts were not especially promising, given the fact that there were hardly any clients out there at the time who were prepared to take a deeper look at issues relating to environmental protection and sustainability.

In a challenge to the boundaries of construction engineering at the time, the enterprise went on to hire economists, lawyers, construction engineers, agricultural engineers, physicists, chemists, biologists, landscape architects, forest engineers and geographers to establish its interdisciplinary credentials. However, the initial attempts to harmonize the expectations of the classic engineers and the other specialists proved unsuccessful. This then led to the breakup of Basler & Hofmann and the founding of Ernst Basler + Partner AG in the year 1981.

After the enterprise’s founding, those whose skills were not traditionally represented in the building sector were integrated into the various business divisions, the degree of interdisciplinary cooperation was intensified and the aim of sustainable development was incorporated into the enterprise’s project activities. This gave rise to an expanded understanding of the profession, a broader range of consulting services and a higher degree of innovation when approaching projects. In recognition of his pioneering efforts and the successful implementation of the principle of sustainability in projects, Ernst Basler received an honorary doctorate from ETH Zurich in 1992.

To this very day, our commitment to sustainability and interdisciplinary cooperation remains a driving force behind our development.

Enterprise milestones

EBP

2021 EBP acquires Rütter Soceco with all of its employees and establishes a new Business + Society division

2020 Geoclock and EDR Group newly re-designated as EBP Brazil and EBP US

2019 EBP closes its subsidiary in Hong Kong in favor of a new location on the mainland. Founding of EBP China in Shenzhen

2016 Relocation of EBP Deutschland from Potsdam to Berlin

2016 Changing of the company name from Ernst Basler + Partner to EBP

2016 Affiliation with the EDR Group in Boston

2015 Founding of EBP Hong Kong

2014 Acquisition of a majority stake in Geoklock (100% since 2016) and Bachema (60%) in Brazil

2012 Founding of EBP Chile

2010 Reformulation of the corporate strategy «EBP2025» to emphasize the equal promotion of inner, substantive and international strength

1996 Amendment of the «EBP Core Values» that are still practiced today

1994 Ernst Basler passes the scepter on to his son Bruno Basler, with the family holding 100% of the company shares.

1993 Founding of EBP Deutschland in Potsdam

1989 Ernst Basler formulates the enterprise’s «Core Values» that have essentially remained valid until this very day  

1981 Founding of Ernst Basler + Partner after the breakup of the Basler & Hofmann engineering firm that was originally founded in 1963. While still at Basler & Hofmann, Ernst Basler began to promote interdisciplinary cooperation and the principle of sustainability as early as 1971.

Geoklock and Bachema

2022 Bachema no longer operated by EBP Brasil

2020 Geoclock newly re-designated as EBP Brasil 

2014 Acquisition of a majority stake in Geoklock (100% since 2016) and Bachema (60%) by EBP

2006 Expansion of the company scope to include renewable energy

2004 The company’s focus on site assessment and remediation is expanded to include other environmental activities

2000 Founding of the environmental laboratory Bachema in partnership with Bachema AG in Switzerland

1979 Ernesto Moeri founds the environmental engineering firm Geoklock in São Paulo

EDR Group

2016 Affiliation with EBP

2005 The company’s previous focus on economic analysis is expanded via the TREDIS software package

1996 Glen and Marcia Weisbrod found the consulting firm known as EDR Group