Energy
Historic non‑residential buildings represent a significant share of Europe’s building stock and play a crucial cultural and social role. However, improving their energy performance remains particularly challenging due to architectural constraints, protection regulations, and the need to preserve heritage values. The SMARTeeSTORY project addresses this challenge by demonstrating how advanced building automation and optimised control strategies can significantly improve energy efficiency without invasive physical refurbishments.
Funded under the Horizon Europe programme, SMARTeeSTORY focuses on the development of an integrated, interoperable and user‑centred Building Automation and Control System (BACS) specifically tailored to historic buildings. Rather than relying on structural interventions, the project places smart control at the core of the energy transition for heritage assets, leveraging digital technologies to optimise existing systems while respecting conservation requirements.
A key pillar of SMARTeeSTORY is the design and validation of advanced control algorithms that intelligently manage building energy systems. These control strategies combine physics‑based models, which capture the thermal behaviour of buildings and systems, with data‑driven models derived from monitoring data. This hybrid approach enables accurate short‑ and long‑term predictions of energy demand, indoor comfort conditions, and system performance. On this basis, predictive and optimisation‑based control algorithms dynamically adjust heating, cooling, ventilation and other services to minimise energy consumption while ensuring comfort and operational reliability.
RINA is in charge of the development of the advance control algorithm as well as of the software platform hosting them providing several other services to the facility manager.
Furthermore, the project focuses on improving the smart readiness of the buildings increasing the SRI (smart readiness indicator). To achieve this result, RINA and Tecnalia jointly developed an innovative, user-friendly web tool designed to assess how well buildings are prepared to integrate smart technologies. It enables building owners, technical experts, and public authorities to define energy, economic, and environmental targets, while also providing tailored recommendations for smart interventions and high-level estimates of potential savings and cost-effectiveness.
Our role in the project involves RINA acting as the Project Coordinator for SMARTeeSTORY, supporting the development and consolidation of the new Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) Calculation Web Tool.
RINA’s contribution has been essential in ensuring the tool’s alignment with the official European methodology (Method B – Expert SRI Assessment). This has guaranteed technical consistency, reliability of results, and applicability across the European building stock. In particular, RINA has actively supported the validation process in real-world pilot buildings, strengthening the robustness and scalability of the solution.
Additionally, we have provided the necessary informatics skills to develop the digital software architecture of the SMARTeeSTORY system. As a significant consultancy partner, we have contributed extensive industrial expertise in setting up project demonstrators and formulating a robust strategy for exploiting project results.
Our role in the project involves RINA acting as the Project Coordinator for SMARTeeSTORY, supporting the development and consolidation of the new Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) Calculation Web Tool.
RINA’s contribution has been essential in ensuring the tool’s alignment with the official European methodology (Method B – Expert SRI Assessment). This has guaranteed technical consistency, reliability of results, and applicability across the European building stock. In particular, RINA has actively supported the validation process in real-world pilot buildings, strengthening the robustness and scalability of the solution.
Additionally, we have provided the necessary informatics skills to develop the digital software architecture of the SMARTeeSTORY system. As a significant consultancy partner, we have contributed extensive industrial expertise in setting up project demonstrators and formulating a robust strategy for exploiting project results.
