This year, you're celebrating Tech-Insta's 30th anniversary. Can you summarize the key milestones of this entrepreneurial journey?
«Our story begins in December 1995 in Bioggio, after the recovery with an operation of management buyout and with 36 employees from all the facilities that the Lugano branch of the Sulzer division specializing in RCVS systems (heating, air conditioning, ventilation, and plumbing) had in Ticino. Although we started with several high-value projects under our belt, including the systems for the UBS Suglio building in Manno, there were still uncertainties and risks. After 30 years, we've been here since 2006, in our new building in Taverne, with around ninety employees. Over the years, beyond the "classic" RCVS installations, we have expanded our skills In systems supporting industrial production processes, such as steam generation and distribution, industrial refrigeration, liquid and gaseous fluid transport networks, and air conditioning for environments with stringent hygiene and environmental requirements, such as in the pharmaceutical industry. In 2015, we began designing and offering photovoltaic systems, and this year, we also have the expertise to install electrical systems. In 2016, we established an Energy Office to provide analyses and studies aimed at identifying effective interventions for rational energy management and the reduction of harmful emissions in residential and industrial facilities.
After receiving a major contract to renovate the systems at the UN headquarters in Geneva, we opened a small branch in that city in 2021 to expand our reach. In 2022, we obtained ISO 9001 quality certification, and in 2023, ISO 13485 certification to install medical gas distribution networks in healthcare facilities, making us the only company in Ticino and one of the few in Switzerland authorized for this type of system.
What are the strengths of your organization that have allowed you to assume a leading role in the Ticino landscape over the years?
Essentially, there are two, yet complementary, benefits. The first is our broad range of plant engineering offerings, covering, as mentioned, more than just traditional RCVS systems. The second is our highly qualified staff and the appropriate resources to manage both the design, construction, and maintenance aspects of these systems with the necessary expertise and professionalism. This expertise and professionalism are essential to respond to client requests with appropriate technical, economic, and now also environmental solutions. These are also the skills that have allowed us to acquire projects with high engineering and construction requirements—we were the only Ticino company to submit a bid, as was the case for the complex Teris district heating plant connected to the Giubiasco waste-to-energy plant—but also to establish ongoing relationships with industrial companies, enabling us to meet their specific and varied plant engineering requirements.
There's a lot of talk about energy efficiency. What does this concept actually mean when applied to your industry?
Energy efficiency is a key component in achieving the goals of the Confederation's 2050 strategy. For us, applying this concept means being able to identify useful interventions to rationalize and optimize the use of different forms of energy, not only in individual systems but also across the building/system complex. This includes industrial production facilities, from which waste heat can often be recovered and reused. Tech-Insta has seized this opportunity by establishing its Energy Office. And, importantly, the results of the studies conducted, in addition to confirming the validity of energy efficiency interventions from a technical and environmental perspective, have also demonstrated their economic viability.
A particularly significant example is the result achieved at a mechanical engineering company. By implementing the proposals resulting from the study conducted by Tech-Insta—installing a more efficient system for cooling the cutting oil used on production machines, a multipurpose heat pump for heat recovery, and an efficient plant management system—it was possible to reduce annual electricity consumption by 350,000 kWh and eliminate boilers, eliminating fuel oil costs and harmful emissions. These savings allow for a payback period of just a few years, making the project also economically viable.
How it has transformed your work, both with regards to the evolution of plant engineering techniques and with regards to maintenance services
There have been no major changes in the system installation process. This is beyond the normal technical evolution of materials, assembly systems, and work equipment on construction sites, which allows for greater efficiency and faster turnaround times. The increasingly widespread use of electronics and information technology on electromechanical components and machinery has, however, required the skills of the personnel responsible for maintenance and troubleshooting over time to adapt. From this perspective, we have gradually adapted to this evolution to meet new needs regarding staff training and the provision of equipment and tools to ensure a first-rate and efficient service.
What are the main challenges that await you in the future and how are you preparing to face them?
Energy management is a key topic today, with constantly evolving laws, regulations, and standards aimed at promoting, on the one hand, the transition from energy derived from sources with harmful emissions to energy produced without negatively impacting the environment, and, on the other, reducing consumption through the use of more efficient technical solutions. Since the systems we install are closely linked to energy—they partly require it to function and partly produce it—the challenge for us is to stay constantly updated on both the technical developments of materials, equipment, and machinery, as well as on regulations and standards. Our challenge is therefore to have employees with the appropriate training and expertise to efficiently and consistently monitor these developments. This is a challenge we believe we can successfully manage thanks to our current structure.
