ENTROPY · Project

Smart Building Platform That Cuts Energy Bills by Changing How People Behave

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Imagine your office building could gently nudge everyone to use less energy — like a fitness tracker, but for electricity. ENTROPY built an IoT-connected platform that watches how a building uses energy, then uses games, mobile apps, and personalized tips to motivate the people inside to change daily habits. Think of it as Duolingo meets your smart thermostat: sensors collect the data, algorithms spot the waste, and fun challenges get occupants to actually do something about it. The whole thing was tested in 3 real pilot sites across Europe.

By the numbers

Pilot sites where the platform was validated

Consortium partners involved in development

Countries represented in the consortium

SME partners in the consortium

60%

Industry partner ratio in the consortium

Demo deliverables including platform, games, and apps

Total project deliverables produced

The business problem

What needed solving

Buildings are the largest energy-consuming sector, yet most efficiency investments focus on hardware upgrades while ignoring the people inside. Occupant behaviour can undermine even the best insulation and HVAC systems — lights left on, windows open with heating running, equipment on standby. Without a way to engage occupants and change daily habits, building owners leave significant energy savings on the table.

The solution

What was built

ENTROPY built a complete IT platform integrating IoT smart sensors, energy data analytics with reporting dashboards, a gamification engine, serious games, personalised mobile and social applications, and lifestyle recommender algorithms. The final integrated platform was released as a prototype and validated across 3 pilot sites.

Audience

Who needs this

Commercial property managers with large office or mixed-use portfoliosEnergy service companies (ESCOs) delivering guaranteed savings contractsSmart building and building automation solution providersCorporate sustainability teams responsible for Scope 2 emissions reductionMunicipal governments managing public building energy performance

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Commercial real estate & property management

enterprise

Target: Property management firms or facility managers running large office portfolios

If you are a property management company dealing with rising energy costs across your building portfolio — this project developed an integrated IoT platform with smart sensors, data analytics dashboards, and gamified mobile apps that motivate tenants and occupants to reduce energy consumption. The system was validated in 3 pilot sites and includes personalized lifestyle recommendations to drive measurable behavioural change.

Energy services (ESCOs)

mid-size

Target: Energy service companies offering efficiency contracts to building owners

If you are an energy service company struggling to achieve guaranteed savings in occupied buildings where human behaviour undermines technical efficiency — this project built energy data analytics, reporting and visualisation tools combined with serious games and social features that keep occupants engaged. With 6 industry partners involved in development, the tools are designed for real-world deployment, not just lab testing.

Smart building technology

SME

Target: Building automation and smart home solution providers

If you are a smart building technology provider looking to add occupant engagement features to your hardware offering — ENTROPY developed a complete software ecosystem including IoT integration, semantic data models, gamification engines, and personalised mobile applications. The platform connects sensor networks with crowd-sensing and social network features, giving you a ready-made engagement layer to bundle with your existing building management systems.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to deploy this in my buildings?

The project data does not include specific licensing costs or deployment pricing. Since the project ended in 2018 and involved 10 consortium partners, commercial terms would need to be negotiated with the technology owners. SciTransfer can help you connect with the right partner to discuss pricing.

Can this scale to a portfolio of hundreds of buildings?

The platform architecture uses IoT protocols and cloud-based data analytics designed for scalability. It was validated across 3 pilot sites in different countries, which demonstrates multi-site capability. Scaling to a large portfolio would require infrastructure planning but the modular design (sensors, analytics, apps, games) supports incremental rollout.

Who owns the IP and can I license the technology?

The consortium of 10 partners across 7 countries jointly developed the technology under an EU Research and Innovation Action. IP ownership is typically shared among consortium members per their grant agreement. You would need to contact specific partners to discuss licensing terms for individual components.

Does this comply with EU energy efficiency regulations?

The project was funded under topic EE-11-2014, directly aligned with EU energy efficiency policy goals. The platform supports monitoring and reporting of building energy consumption, which aligns with requirements under the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. Specific regulatory compliance would depend on your jurisdiction and use case.

How long does deployment take?

Based on the project timeline (2015-2018), full platform development including sensor deployment, analytics setup, and app rollout took approximately 3 years for the research version. A commercial deployment using the existing final platform release would be significantly faster, though exact timelines depend on building size and sensor infrastructure.

Does it integrate with existing building management systems?

The platform was built on IoT standards and semantic web technologies specifically to interconnect numerous devices using energy-efficient communication protocols. The architecture includes sensor network integration and data modelling layers designed for interoperability. Specific BMS integration would need to be assessed case by case.

Is there ongoing technical support available?

The EU-funded project formally ended in November 2018. Ongoing support would depend on which consortium partners have continued developing the technology commercially. SciTransfer can help identify active partners and current product status.

Consortium

Who built it

The ENTROPY consortium has a strong commercial orientation: 6 out of 10 partners come from industry (60% industry ratio), and 5 are SMEs — meaning the technology was developed with market reality in mind, not just academic publishing. The 4 university partners (including coordinator Universidad de Murcia) provided the research backbone in IoT, data analytics, and behavioural science. Spread across 7 countries (Austria, Switzerland, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Italy, Serbia), the consortium covers both Western and Southern European markets. For a business buyer, this mix signals that the technology was built with practical deployment needs and diverse building types in mind.

UNIVERSIDAD DE MURCIACoordinator · ES
DRUSTVO ZA KONSALTING, RAZVOJ I IMPLEMENTACIJU INFORMACIONIH I KOMUNIKACIONIH TEHNOLOGIJA DUNAVNET DOO NOVI SADparticipant · RS
GIOUMPITEK MELETI SCHEDIASMOS YLOPOIISI KAI POLISI ERGON PLIROFORIKIS ETAIREIA PERIORISMENIS EFTHYNISparticipant · EL
INTELEN SERVICES LIMITEDparticipant · CY
ARVRTECH DOO NOVI SADparticipant · RS
DOCLIFE SRLparticipant · IT
ATHENS UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS - RESEARCH CENTERparticipant · EL
HAUTE ECOLE SPECIALISEE DE SUISSE OCCIDENTALEparticipant · CH
UNIVERSITAET INNSBRUCKparticipant · AT

How to reach the team

The coordinator is Universidad de Murcia (Spain). SciTransfer can help you reach the right person on the research team.

Order a report on this consortium See UNIVERSIDAD DE MURCIA profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how ENTROPY's building engagement platform could work for your portfolio? SciTransfer connects you directly with the research team — contact us for a tailored briefing.

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