SVEUCILISTE U ZAGREBU, FAKULTET STROJARSTVA I BRODOGRADNJE

Their core work

The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture at the University of Zagreb is Croatia's leading technical faculty specializing in energy systems, district heating and cooling networks, and sustainable urban energy planning. They develop tools and strategies for transitioning cities and regions to low-carbon heating, integrating renewable energy sources, and optimizing waste heat recovery. Beyond energy, they contribute expertise in advanced manufacturing (additive manufacturing), computational fluid dynamics, and water treatment technologies. Their work directly supports municipalities and utilities planning energy infrastructure upgrades across Central and Eastern Europe.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

From 2015 to 2018, UNIZAG FSB concentrated almost exclusively on district heating and cooling — mapping heating strategies, improving DH network performance, and developing urban energy planning tools across multiple overlapping projects. From 2019 onward, they diversified significantly: their largest project (INSULAE) brought in smart energy storage, electric mobility, and big data for island energy systems, while NOWELTIES marked a pivot into water treatment and nanomaterials. Their most recent project, exaFOAM (2021), signals a move toward high-performance computing for industrial simulation — a notable departure from their traditional energy infrastructure focus.

Moving from traditional district heating expertise toward broader smart energy systems, environmental technologies, and computational engineering — expect future projects to combine energy, water, and digital simulation.

How they like to work

Primarily a consortium partner (14 of 17 projects), contributing technical expertise to larger teams rather than leading them. Their three coordinator roles (STARMAS, PentaHelix, INEX-ADAM) are all Coordination and Support Actions or capacity-building projects, suggesting they lead when the focus is training, networking, or regional capacity development. With 194 unique partners across 31 countries, they are a well-connected hub — comfortable working in diverse, multi-national consortia typical of energy CSAs and RIAs.

Extensive European network of 194 unique partners spanning 31 countries, with particularly strong connections in Central and Eastern Europe through district heating and energy planning projects. Their reach is genuinely pan-European, reflecting the broad geographic spread of energy transition initiatives.

What sets them apart

UNIZAG FSB is one of the strongest district heating and cooling research groups in Southeast Europe, with unmatched depth across the full DH value chain — from national strategy and urban planning down to network performance optimization. Their location in Croatia gives them direct experience with the energy challenges specific to Central and Eastern European heating systems, making them an ideal partner for projects targeting post-socialist district heating infrastructure. Their recent diversification into water treatment, additive manufacturing, and HPC simulation makes them increasingly versatile beyond their energy core.

Highlights from their portfolio

• INSULAE
  Largest single EC contribution (EUR 504k) — comprehensive island energy systems covering storage, electric mobility, smart control, and big data, showing breadth beyond traditional DH work.
• REWARDHeat
  Multi-year project running to 2024 on renewable and waste heat recovery for competitive DH networks — represents the mature evolution of their core district heating expertise.
• INEX-ADAM
  Coordinator role with EUR 342k on advanced additive manufacturing — their largest coordinated project and a clear signal of manufacturing ambitions beyond energy.