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Sympheny demand profiles methodology

The demand profiles in Sympheny are based on different sources depending on the building use. They are stored in three levels, each contributing to the overall shape of the demand profile:

  • Demand type refers to the energy carrier. Space heating and cooling depend on a normalized weather profile, while the other profiles are stochastic — they depend on the time of use of different appliances.
  • Building use affects the shape of the profile. For example, an office building is generally closed on weekends and less occupied in summer, while a hospital operates at high capacity throughout the year.
  • Building age or standard is used to derive an energy intensity (kWh/m2/year), to estimate annual demand in kWh from the energy reference area (m2). The SIA standards include values of peak load in kW. When you select SIA standards, profiles are slightly reshaped to match the annual demand in kWh and the peak load in kW.

In the database, all profiles are normalized for annual energy demand, meaning the sum of annual energy demand is 1 kWh. The profile is then "scaled" — multiplied by the actual energy demand.

The demand profiles in Sympheny are based on different sources depending on the building use:

  • Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, a German applied research institute, provided data for:
    • Administration / office
    • Hospitals
    • Multi-family house
    • Retail
    • Schools
    • Single-family house
  • Open-source data provided by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey provided profile data for:
    • Hotel
    • Indoor swimming pool
    • Industry 2-shift fabricated metals
    • Industry warehouse
  • Swiss building standards SIA 380 and SIA 2024 provided additional data for the remaining profiles:
    • Assembly
    • Industry
    • Sports center
    • Warehouse

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft profiles

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft residential profiles (multi-family house, MFH, and single-family house, SFH) were generated using the SynPro tool in 2020. The four non-residential profiles were generated using their synGHD tool in 2020. All profiles were generated using weather data for Zürich, 2018.

Residential profiles

Multi-family house (MFH)

The simulation is based on a renovated building constructed up until 1978, with a typical use of a small multi-family dwelling (up to 10 units). U-values for walls, windows, and roof are 0.3 W/m2·K, 0.5 W/m2·K, and 0.2 W/m2·K, respectively.

The following parameters are used:

  • Window-to-wall ratio: 0.23
  • Area-to-volume ratio: 0.43
  • Set-points:
    • Heating: 20°C
    • Cooling: 24°C

Single-family house (SFH)

The simulation is based on a one-occupant renovated building constructed up until 1978. U-values for walls, windows, and roof are 0.3 W/m2·K, 0.5 W/m2·K, and 0.2 W/m2·K, respectively.

The following parameters are used:

  • Window-to-wall ratio: 0.19
  • Area-to-volume ratio: 0.92
  • Set-points:
    • Heating: 20°C
    • Cooling: 24°C

Non-residential profiles

The simulation is based on the following building age classes:

  • Offices: 2002 until today.
  • Hospitals, restaurants, schools, and shops: until 1978, renovated.

The following parameters are used:

  • Set-points:
    • Heating: 20°C
    • Cooling: 26°C