Casa Capriasca and La Sosta are two municipal retirement homes located in the city of Massagno, in southern Switzerland. Built in the 1970s, the buildings share many similarities in size, apartment layout, and resident capacity.
Each residence accommodates approximately 30 elderly citizens, making a total of 60 dwellings with an average size of 13 m².
Both buildings have rooftop photovoltaic systems installed, contributing to their energy production. However, they differ in terms of existing infrastructure and renovation status. One building is connected to the district heating network, while the other relies entirely on electric systems for heating and domestic hot water.
Casa Capriasca is currently undergoing deep renovations, including the replacement of all doors, windows, façades, floors, and sanitary pipelines — a project with a total investment of €4 million.
La Sosta was partially renovated in 2021, with upgrades to rooftop insulation, installation of PVs, and the replacement of its HVAC system. A sensor network was installed in summer 2022 under the EU-funded ACCEPT project, providing real-time data for monitoring and analysis.
AEM, the local energy provider, plays several roles in the operation of La Sosta: as the distribution system operator, owner of the rooftop PV plant and heat pump system, and manager of the energy community to which the building belongs. AEM has provided a letter of engagement for the purposes of OpenBEP4EU and is using CHRONICLE’s tools to monitor system performance, optimise heating infrastructure, and enable predictive maintenance.
The estimated average annual energy consumption (electricity and heating) is:
- La Sosta: 10.3 MWh per household, with 0 tonnes of CO₂ emissions due to the use of green energy.
- Casa Capriasca: 12.5 MWh per household, with 4.4 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually.
Detailed data on electricity use, load sub-metering, temperature, humidity, luminance, and motion are available through the CHRONICLE project.