Compare heat sources, network layouts and costs in one model, before you commit to a design.
Heat Network Zoning is creating a wave of zone-level feasibility work, and the teams that move quickly with credible outputs will win the commissions. Sympheny runs the scenario modelling so your engineers spend their time on judgement, not assembly.
In a 30 minute demo, see your project set up, scenarios compared, and a report ready to share.
Every optimised combination plotted on cost against carbon, produced from a single project.
What heat network teams are up against.
Too few combinations get tested
Comparing technology options one at a time, GSHP against ASHP against waste heat against gas backup, means most teams evaluate three to five combinations when the real decision space runs into the dozens.
Architecture gets fixed too early
Network type, whether high-temperature, low-temperature or ambient loop, often gets chosen on instinct at the start, because modelling all three properly takes too long to be worth it under a deadline.
A spreadsheet no longer convinces anyone
Funders, local authorities and zoning submissions all want evidence behind the numbers. A spreadsheet that nobody else can interrogate does not carry the case the way it used to.
Feasibility and concept design for heat networks, in one model.
The network, the heat sources and the architecture all sit in the same optimisation, so the comparison is consistent rather than stitched together from separate studies.
The network is part of the model, not an afterthought.
Define hubs, whether buildings, zones or substations, and draw thermal network links between them on a real GIS map. Set heat loss per metre and cost per metre. The optimiser knows the network topology, so pipe routing costs feed directly into the technology comparison.
- Model competing network types between the same hubs: high-temp, low-temp, ambient loop
- Network length measured on the GIS map, CAPEX calculated automatically
- Heat loss per metre included in the energy balance
Every heat source option, evaluated in the same run.
Ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps, waste heat recovery and gas boiler backup, all modelled as candidates in the same optimisation. Seasonal COP profiles for heat pumps are included, so the model reflects real winter performance rather than a single efficiency figure.
- GSHP, ASHP, waste heat, gas and custom sources as candidates
- Seasonal COP profiles for heat pumps, month by month
- The optimiser selects the best combination, so you do not have to guess
High-temp, low-temp, or ambient loop. Let the optimisation decide.
Instead of choosing a network temperature regime before modelling starts, define all three as candidates between the same hubs. The optimiser compares them on cost and carbon together with the heat source options. You get the answer, not just another input to argue about.
- High-temperature, low-temperature and ambient loop modelled in the same project
- Network type chosen by the optimiser, not by assumption
- Compare architectures on life-cycle cost and CO₂ in one output
Pareto cost and carbon comparisons your stakeholders can read.
Every combination the optimiser evaluates gets plotted on a Pareto front, life-cycle cost against CO₂ emissions. The cheapest scheme, the lowest-carbon scheme, and the trade-offs in between, all from one project. Load-duration curves, Sankey flows and hourly demand profiles sit alongside it.
- Pareto front across all optimised scenarios
- Hourly resolution across a full reference year
- Stakeholder-ready exports without rebuilding charts manually
Sympheny covers feasibility and concept design, the stage where technology choices, network architectures and business cases get settled. Once you have decided what you are building, hydraulic detailed design (pipe sizing, pressure calculations, flow modelling) is a separate step that belongs in tools built for it. Most of the decisions that determine whether a heat network gets funded happen before that stage.
Proven at district and city scale.
16 PV and energy-sharing scenarios compared in one project. The optimal strategy cuts costs by 20–25% versus the existing setup.
Read case studyThree city-wide scenarios confirmed a net-zero energy supply is achievable, at similar life-cycle costs to today's fossil-based system.
Read case studyBuilt for the teams shaping heat networks
Engineering consultants
Running feasibility studies and concept designs for heat network schemes. Need to compare more technology options and produce defensible outputs faster.
Local authorities
Mapping Heat Network Zones and evaluating candidate areas. Need scenario evidence that a zone is viable before committing to procurement.
ESCOs and developers
Evaluating new heat network schemes on cost, carbon and risk before capital is committed.
Utilities
Looking at district heating extensions or new networks, and need to compare heat source options across a zone in a single model.
See your heat network options compared before you commit.
Bring a scheme to a demo and watch the heat sources, network types and costs get compared in one model.
In a 30 minute demo, see your project set up, scenarios compared, and a report ready to share.
