Inovacijsko-razvojni institut Univerze v Ljubljani

Their core work

IRI UL is the innovation and development institute of the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia's largest university. They specialize in bridging energy research with end-user behavior — understanding how people actually use buildings, energy systems, and electric vehicles, then designing tools and platforms that drive real behavioral change. Their work spans building energy performance certification, community energy trading platforms, deep renovation strategies, and EV charging infrastructure, always with a strong user-centric and social science dimension. They frequently contribute dissemination, user engagement, and impact assessment expertise to large European consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

IRI UL began with a focus on understanding how people interact with buildings — indoor environment quality, energy performance gaps, and behavioral change tools (MOBISTYLE, 2016). From 2018-2019 they expanded heavily into building renovation strategies and energy certification, becoming a go-to partner for projects rethinking how Europe certifies and renovates its building stock. By 2020-2021, their scope broadened further into community energy platforms with blockchain, EV charging infrastructure, and climate neutrality — signaling a shift from individual buildings toward district-scale and mobility-integrated energy systems.

IRI UL is moving from building-level energy analysis toward integrated community energy systems and electric mobility, making them increasingly relevant for district-scale and smart city projects.

How they like to work

IRI UL never coordinates — they join as participants (10 projects) or third-party contributors (4 projects), functioning as a specialist brought in for specific expertise rather than leading consortia. With 205 unique partners across 30 countries, they have an exceptionally broad network for an organization of their size, indicating they are a trusted, flexible partner that integrates well into diverse teams. Their mix of Innovation Actions and Coordination & Support Actions (7 each) shows they contribute both to technical implementation and to knowledge-sharing and capacity-building work.

With 205 unique consortium partners spanning 30 countries, IRI UL has built a remarkably wide European network despite never leading a project. Their partnerships reflect strong connections across Western and Eastern Europe, particularly in the energy and buildings research community.

What sets them apart

IRI UL occupies a distinctive niche at the intersection of social science and energy engineering — they understand not just how buildings and energy systems work technically, but why people fail to use them efficiently. This human-factors expertise is rare among technical research institutes and makes them especially valuable for projects that need user engagement, behavioral change strategies, or consumer-oriented design. Their position within the University of Ljubljana also gives them access to multidisciplinary academic resources across Slovenia's largest research institution.

Highlights from their portfolio

• INFINITE
  Their largest funded project (EUR 287,688) running until 2026, focused on industrialised building envelope retrofitting — represents their most ambitious and longest-running commitment.
• NRG2peers
  Combines gamification, blockchain, and peer-to-peer energy trading in a single project — exemplifies their unique ability to merge social engagement tools with energy technology.
• INCIT-EV
  Marks a strategic expansion into electric vehicle charging and wireless power transfer, signaling diversification beyond their traditional building energy focus.