Irees Gmbh

What Irees Gmbh does

IREES GmbH (Institute for Resource Efficiency and Energy Strategies) is a Karlsruhe, Germany-based research and consulting institute founded in 2006 (originally as BSR Sustainability) that operates at the intersection of energy engineering, economics, and social science to advise public-sector clients on the energy transition. The firm delivers interdisciplinary analysis covering market barriers, policy instrument evaluation, sectoral energy scenarios, and decarbonization strategies for districts, companies, cities, and national governments, and it has built a documented project footprint across Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Portugal, and Romania. Its service portfolio is organized into three business units — Energy Management and Energy System Models, Energy Policy and Technologies, and Social Scientific Evaluation — and is complemented by two proprietary software products, NetHEAT (heating network modeling) and the KWP Tool (municipal heat planning pre-screening), as well as contribution to the EU LIFE-funded ESCALATE multilingual training platform.

IREES makes money through professional-services consulting under project-based contracts won via competitive public tenders and direct engagements with German federal ministries (BMUB, BMWi), European Commission programs (Horizon 2020, LIFE), state ministries (MWIDE Saarland), and municipalities including Frankfurt, Freiburg, and Karlsruhe. It participates in multi-partner EU research consortia (with Fraunhofer ISI, TU Vienna, DTU, Energy Cities, IFEU, TU Berlin, KIT, and others), coordinates climate-neutrality networks (KNN 2.0, IDEE), and monetizes work through funded research contracts, feasibility studies, and policy advisory services — pricing is not publicly disclosed. Leadership comprises Managing Directors Dr. Jan Steinbach (appointed 2017, ex-Fraunhofer ISI) and Dr. Heike Brugger, with founder Prof. Dr. Eberhard Jochem (former ETH Zurich professor and IPCC contributor) serving as Senior Advisor since 2014. The company is privately held, has no external institutional investment, and reports a headcount in the 11–50 range.

Name

Irees Gmbh

Legal name

IREES GmbH

Website

https://irees.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

IREES GmbH is a Karlsruhe-based research and consulting institute that provides interdisciplinary energy system modeling, policy advisory, and social scientific evaluation for German federal ministries, EU programs, and municipalities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Karlsruhe

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research Consulting Services: Project-based consulting engagements funded by public institutions including German federal ministries (BMUB, BMWi), European Commission (Horizon 2020), and municipal clients. Revenue is derived from research contracts, feasibility studies, and policy advisory services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

IREES GmbH is a research and consulting institute that delivers interdisciplinary advisory services and specialized software tools for the energy transition. The company sells project-based consulting on energy system modeling, energy policy and technology assessment, and social scientific evaluation of energy transitions to government bodies, municipalities, and energy-intensive industries. Its portfolio also includes proprietary software tools (NetHEAT, KWP Tool) and contributions to the EU ESCALATE training platform.

Product overview

IREES GmbH is a research and consulting institute offering a portfolio of advisory services and specialized software tools for the energy transition. The core offerings include consulting services in energy system modeling, energy policy advisory, and social scientific evaluation, complemented by software tools such as NetHEAT (for heating network optimization) and the KWP Tool (for municipal heat planning assessment). The company also runs climate protection network programs (KNN 2.0, IDEE) and contributes to the ESCALATE EU training platform. Together, these services support municipalities, companies, and policymakers in developing decarbonization strategies for buildings, districts, and industrial processes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• NetHEAT

Quantifiable outcome

• Development of heating and cooling strategies for 6 regions across 6 European countries
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered major, minor and core.

• Forschungsstelle für Energiewirtschaft e.V (FfE)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2025Research institution for energy economics, consortium partner in Saarland heat transition strategy development.
• LIFE Programme / e-think energy researchmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025EU LIFE programme partner and e-think energy research for ESCALATE training and municipal heating/cooling planning.
• ÖIR (Österreichisches Institut für Raumplanung)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2024Austrian Institute for Spatial Planning, consortium partner for sustainability assessment in NRW structural funding programs.
• WoodenValley gGmbHminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Project partner in GEFION project for sustainable building assessment and LCA expertise.
• Hochschule EsslingenminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022University partner in GEFION sustainable construction project.
• Consentec GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2018Administrative coordinator for infrastructure modeling project, providing analysis of energy system transformation scenarios.
• IFEU (Institut für Energie- und Umweltforschung Heidelberg)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2018Heidelberg Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, consortium partner for scenario analysis.
• Technical University of BerlinmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2018Academic partner in infrastructure modeling consortium.
• KIT Karlsruhe (DVGW Research Institute)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2018Karlsruhe Institute of Technology's gas and water research institute, partner in energy infrastructure analysis.
• IKEM (Institut für Klimaschutz, Energie und Mobilität)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2018Institute for Climate Protection, Energy and Mobility, legal and policy advisory partner.
• Stiftung Umweltenergierecht (SUER)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2018Foundation for Environmental Energy Law, providing regulatory framework analysis.
• Hochschule Karlsruhe (Project Lead)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Hochschule Karlsruhe serves as project lead for the Interflex project on energy efficiency in industrial estates. The partnership involves analysis of demand side management potential in enterprises.
• Fraunhofer ISIcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2015Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research is a key consortium partner in EU-funded projects. Involved in ProgRESsHEAT and multiple other initiatives.
• Energy Economics Group (EEG), Vienna University of TechnologymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2015Lead partner in ProgRESsHEAT project for analyzing heating and cooling policy strategies across EU member states.
• Technical University of Denmark (DTU)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2015European consortium partner in ProgRESsHEAT for renewable energy and efficiency analysis.
• Energy CitiesmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2015European association of local authorities for energy transition, consortium partner in policy development projects.
• OÖ EnergiesparverbandminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2015Austrian energy savings association, consortium partner in regional heating and cooling strategy development.
• ee energy engineers GmbHminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2015German energy engineering consultancy, consortium partner in heating and cooling projects.
• Gate 21minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2015Danish green growth partnership, consortium partner in sustainability projects.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Öko-Institut: Freiburg-based applied research institute for sustainability and environmental policy. Like IREES, Öko-Institut runs interdisciplinary projects on energy transition, climate protection, and resource efficiency for German federal ministries and EU institutions.
• Prognos AG: Basel/Berlin-based economic and energy research consultancy. Prognos regularly competes with IREES on federal energy-scenario, infrastructure, and policy evaluation tenders (including the BMWi scenario-worlds track) and serves similar public-sector clients.
• Fraunhofer ISI: Germany's leading energy and innovation research institute, headquartered in Karlsruhe. Fraunhofer ISI is IREES's most direct peer — both serve German federal ministries and EU programs on energy policy, system modeling, and decarbonization analysis, and they frequently co-bid or partner (e.g., ProgRESsHEAT).
• ÖIR – Österreichisches Institut für Raumplanung: Austrian Institute for Spatial Planning. ÖIR is a documented IREES consortium partner on NRW structural-funding sustainability assessments and competes in the EU applied-research pool for spatial/energy planning studies.
• e-think energy research: Vienna-based energy research institute. e-think is a documented IREES partner on the ESCALATE project and competes in the same Austrian and EU research-consortium pool for energy-efficiency and heating/cooling policy work.
• ifeu – Institut für Energie- und Umweltforschung Heidelberg: Heidelberg-based research institute focused on energy, environment, and sustainability. ifeu is a documented IREES consortium partner (infrastructure modeling) and competes for the same federal and EU tender pool around scenario analysis and climate strategy.
• Consentec GmbH: Aachen-based energy economics and regulatory consultancy. Consentec is a documented IREES consortium partner on energy infrastructure modeling and competes for overlapping energy-system and regulatory analysis tenders for German federal clients.
• Wuppertal Institut: Wuppertal-based research institute for climate, environment, and energy. Wuppertal Institut is a major direct competitor for federal and EU energy-transition research tenders, with overlapping coverage of building decarbonization, industrial efficiency, and policy advisory.
• EE Energy Engineers GmbH: German energy engineering consultancy focused on heating, cooling, and efficiency projects. EE Energy Engineers is a documented IREES consortium partner in EU heating-and-cooling projects and a close peer in the German municipal heat-planning market.

Broad incumbents

• Guidehouse (formerly Ecofys): Global energy and sustainability consultancy. Guidehouse's Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure practice (incorporating Ecofys) covers similar energy-policy and decarbonization advisory work for EU institutions and utilities, but at significantly larger scale and broader scope than IREES.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLK1DMovauS8NvEDSXa5DNyfu8fZehHTsF
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/irees

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Irees Gmbh