Documents & Tools

Important documents & tools for you to download

Handbook on Planning of District Heating Networks

A print edition can be ordered from Verenum (info@qmfernwaerme.ch). A copy costs CHF 50.00 including shipping and VAT.
A discount of 10% is granted for orders of 10 or more copies and a discount of 20% for orders of 50 or more copies.

Questionnaire

The questionnaire for a district heating connection can be used as a template and is available as an open, three-page Word document.

The questionnaire can be used to collect data on a potential heating customer’s needs, the technical situation of the domestic system (secondary side) and the possible time of connection, among other things.

Checklists

The checklists for the planning of district heating networks can be used as templates and are available as an open, five-page Word document.

The checklists are basically based on the planning procedure of SIA 108. The main differences between SIA 108 and the planning procedure of the District Heating Planning Manual are as follows:

  • Strategic planning (SIA 108 Phase 1) is covered by the guidelines of the Swiss District Heating Association VFS (VFS guidelines). The planning manual for district heating essentially starts with phase 2 according to SIA 108 (phase 2 preliminary study).
  • In the district heating planning manual, the construction project and tendering phase in accordance with SIA 108 (phases 3 and 4) are combined into one phase (phase 3 planning, tendering and awarding).
  • The management phase (SIA 108 Phase 6) is divided into two phases in the district heating planning manual. One is phase 5 management and the other is phase 6 operation and management.

Excess consumption

Based on Chapter 10 Analysis and optimization of the heat consumers, the Excel-based tool “Excess consumption” offers you a simple way to evaluate the quality of heat transfer in the district heating transfer station of the heat consumers in a heating network. The aim is to identify poor return temperatures and to increase efficiency and create more free network capacity in a clearly defined process flow.

Application in German, French, Italian and English

THENA software

THENA (Thermal Network Analysis) is an Excel-based calculation tool and is used for simple technical analysis of the network design and a supplementary rough cost estimate of the heat distribution network.

The THENA software is freely available as a demo beta version and can be downloaded here. A manual based on the full version is available for download.

Excel-THENA (demo beta version, .xlsx 0.6 MB)

The demo version differs from the full version in the following ways:

Number of sub-strands limited to 33 (full version 400 sub-strands)
Selection of pipe system limited to KMR and no change of parameters possible (full version six different pipe systems and adjustment of parameters possible).
Adjustment of parameter values restricted.
The full version costs CHF 1,500 and includes an additional 1 hour of support.

Further information on the costs can be found in the following document.

Publications