About iRIS
How can Europe’s most ambitious scientific facilities, such as the Future Circular Collider and the Einstein Telescope, achieve longterm sustainability and environmental compatibility while driving discovery? Research Infrastructures (RI) are engines of innovation and cooperation, yet their scale demands solutions aligned with ESFRI, EIB, the EU Energy Efficiency Directive, the Soil Strategy 2030, and the Nature Restoration Regulation.
Addressing this challenge ensures that the very facilities which expand the frontiers of knowledge also contribute directly to Europe’s green transition and resilience.
Building on ESFRI landmarks, JRC involvement, and international endorsements, iRIS delivers AI-powered environmental technologies at TRL 6–7 for the eco-design and environmental performance improvement of RIs.
Pilots validate energy-efficiency optimisation with a novel non-intrusive load monitoring system; reuse of construction and demolition materials through real-time processing; soil restoration via lasting reconstitution techniques; and harmonised sustainability assessments with advanced lifecycle analysis.
These approaches embed expert knowledge into reusable and open models and integrate environmental constraints across all RI lifecycle phases. By federating major European facilities, iRIS develops a harmonised methodology for socio-economic assessment that includes environmental benefits, ensuring sound investment choices and continuous improvement.
The impact is transformative. iRIS strengthens Europe’s technological sovereignty and competitiveness, delivers tangible innovations in energy auditing, construction waste reduction, and land restoration, and contributes to the UN SDGs. It upskills Europe’s workforce, fosters industry adoption, and builds public trust in large-scale science.
iRIS shows that RIs are not only gateways to discovery but also drivers of Europe’s sustainable growth and global leadership.
iRIS delivers AI-powered environmental technologies at TRL 6–7 to reduce the energy use of RIs, promote reuse of construction and demolition materials, and support soil restoration at RIs. Real-scale pilots, shared data and models, and harmonised sustainability assessment integrating advanced lifecycle analysis demonstrate immediate impact, accelerate adoption, foster cross-sector reuse, and maximise societal impact.