Consortium

The University for Applied Sciences Rapperswil (HSR) was founded in 1972 and is a member of the University of Applied Science of Eastern Switzerland (FHO). About 1600 bachelor and master (MES) students receive their education in classical engineering domains (mechanical, electrical and civil engineering and informatics) or in more specialized areas as environmental engineering, special planning or landscape architecture.
The Institut für Solartechnik SPF employs 30 scientists and engineers and is the largest of 17 research institutes of the university. The experts of SPF can draw upon 30 years of experience in testing, research and development of materials, components, systems, and software in the field of solar energy and renewable energy systems. SPF is an accredited institute for testing of solar thermal collectors and components, and is also renowned for its whole system testing approach for combined renewable heating systems.

TECNALIA RESEARCH & INNOVATION is a private, independent, non-profit applied research center of international excellence. Legally a Foundation, Tecnalia is the leading private and independent research and technology organisation in Spain and one of the largest in Europe, employing around 1,400 people (225 PhDs) and with income of 105.2 Million € in 2017.

The whole team at TECNALIA has one GOAL: to transform technology into GDP, meaning wealth to improve people’s quality of life through generation of business opportunities for industry. TECNALIA is committed to generate major impacts in economic terms, by means of innovation and technological development, addressed by 7 business divisions covering the economic sectors of Energy, Environment, Industry, Transport, Construction, Health and ICT. TECNALIA has been granted over 396 patents and promoted more than 30 spin-off companies.

HEIM AG is a Swiss SME offering products and services for residential heating. Founded in 1989 the company provides innovative and sustainable solutions, exclusively with renewable energies. HEIM AG products include heat pumps, wood heating systems, wood fired heat and power units and solar systems. By manufacturing heat pumps in house, Heim can offer highest flexibility and customized solutions.

The Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) is a publicly funded institution that performs innovative research over a wide range of disciplines within the science and technology energy field. IREC was created on July 2008, and began its activities in January 2009. It is composed by 120 employees distributed between its offices in Barcelona and Tarragona. The Institute constitutes a research organization committed to carry out, promote, spread, transfer and improve research activities in the energy and environment sectors of knowledge and of their applications. IREC counts with state-of-the-art experimental laboratory facilities for evaluating and improving the performance of emerging energy technologies and building thermal/electrical components under realistic dynamic conditions.

The Energy Efficiency for Systems, Buildings and Communities area (ECOS group), who will participate in the development of this project, has experience in energy efficiency in buildings, design, study, simulation and optimization of buildings and systems integrating RES (renewable energy systems), as well of development of energy management systems.

Alfa Laval is a large industrial company with headquarters and technology development functions in Lund, Sweden. Their main products are compact heat exchangers for many industrial applications including air conditioning systems. Alfa Laval supplies a high volume of brazed plate heat exchangers as evaporators and condensers. They are very active in evaluating new technologies in order to develop new heat exchanger designs for new applications.

Industrielack AG (ILAG) was founded in 1955 by Gerhard Bruhn and was integrated into Looser Holding 1998. Since 2019 ILAG is part of Showa Denko K.K. (SDK).  ILAG belongs to the market leaders in the non-stick coatings industry in Europe and develops non-stick coatings since 1971. ILAG produces water based and solvent based non-stick coatings for the consumer market and for technical applications and sells them worldwide. ILAG's headquarter is located in Wangen Switzerland and ILAG has a subsidiary in China (Shanghai).
ILAG employs around 73 people in Switzerland and around 54 in China and one sales person in USA. The experts of ILAG can draw upon 47 years of experience in developing coatings in the field of non-stick coatings. ILAG is certified according ISO 9001 and ISO/TS 16949:2009. 

The ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research, based in Frankfurt am Main/Germany, is a leading non-commercial and extra-university institute for transdisciplinary sustainability research. For more than 25 years, the Institute has been developing social-ecological concepts, thus providing support for sound decision-making processes by policy makers, civil society and industry. In this way, ISOE contributes to sustainable development and provides the impetus for critical and sustainable science. Our clients and sponsors include national and international public institutions and corporations. ISOE has been active and is active in many international projects.

NTNU is the largest university within engineering in Norway with its 39,000 students. NTNU has a long experience in R&D projects and has worked in a large number of EU funded projects.
The Department of Energy and Process Engineering has a staff of more than 165 persons including 32 professors and 85 PhD students. The activity includes yearly more than 100 master students. The annual turnover in external funded projects is 15 mill. €. The department offers a specialization within the refrigeration and heat pumping system. There has been an increased research activity within energy efficiency improvement in industrial refrigeration systems and heat pump system development utilizing surplus heat from the industry. The department has an advanced laboratory infrastructure which can be utilized for experimental investigations of TRI-HP.

The Danish Technological Institute (DTI) is an independent, private, non-profit research organization which develops, applies and disseminates science and technology for the benefit of the industrial sector and the society both in Denmark and internationally. DTI is approved as a technological service institute by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. DTI works interdisciplinary in various technical fields and has extensive experience in surface technology. DTI is involved in a large number of projects bringing R&D performing universities and RDT’s together with industrial partners, but is also capable of carrying out research itself.

'Coating and Polymer technology' is a Center at DTI that has worked with development and consultancy concerning coatings and sol-gel technology for over 10 years, addressing special functionalities (against ice, scaling, fouling, corrosion or scratches) that are required for industrial uses. .

The Institute of Refrigeration, Air-Conditioning and Environmental Engineering (IKKU) has a staff of 8 Professors and approximately 30 scientists and engineers. It is part of the University for Applied Sciences Karlsruhe (UASKa). The experts of IKKU can draw upon 65 years of experience in testing, research and development of materials, components, systems, and software in the field of refrigeration and heat pump technology. IKKU is especially known for its ice slurry research.

IKKU has been active and is active in many national and international projects.

REHVA, the Federation of European HVAC Associations, represents +120.000 HVAC engineers and technicians from 27 European countries and supporter companies representing European HVAC industry. REHVA is the leading independent professional HVAC organization in Europe dedicated to the improvement of health, comfort and energy efficiency in all buildings and communities. In these areas, REHVA has an impact on national and EU level policy making, implementation and research initiatives.

REHVA’s mission is to promote latest technologies, knowledge exchange and support capacity building in the field of buildings energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality.

Founded in 2014, Equipos Frigoríficos Compactos, S.L., produces standardized and customized solutions for industrial refrigeration, food industry and air conditioning sectors. EFC is heir of the know-how of the defunct major refrigeration company in the Basque country (Spain), with more than 40 years of experience. EFC manufactures compact refrigeration/freezing equipment in the range of 5 to 90 kW of cooling capacity, Ammonia chillers for a wide range of sizes, from 100 to 1,000 kW, for HVAC and refrigeration applications, as well as, drying, curing and maturing units for Ham/Sausages/Cheese in the range of 4-240 kW for the food industry sector. As a small enterprise, the manufacturer is flexible and capable of realizing specialized energy solutions mainly in cooling but also in heat pump applications.
Recognized in the market for its ease of use and breadth of applications, the smart controls and communication protocols offered by EFC adapt to the needs of each process, simplifying the management of all the parameters involved.