The nPro software is constantly evolving. Find an overview of the released versions and new features on this page. We also inform about new developments in our newsletter.

Version 3.3
March 2025

Version 3.3 introduces new features such as report export as well as corrections for calculations and result displays.

Key Improvements

Beta version of the project report: A first version of the export function for project reports is now available.
Adjustment of water volume calculation: The calculation of water volume and water mass in the district heating results previously considered only the supply line, not the total of supply and return lines. This has been adjusted to make the results more comprehensible. The change does not affect any subsequent calculation results. This correction applies to all versions of the simulation core (3.1, 3.2, 3.3).
Optimization of the "Cooling machine with heat recovery": The calculation of the "Cooling machine with heat recovery" in the energy hub was modified when the option "Excess power can be dissipated" was activated. Previously, it was not possible to cover cooling demands exclusively (when no heating demand was present at the same time). This correction is only applied from simulation core version 3.3 onwards.
Correction of heating demand display: When selecting multiple buildings, the display of heating demands was sometimes incorrect. This only affected the display in the submenu; the calculation and all other result tables were correct.
Improvement of annual profiles: In the simulation results of the energy hub, step profiles are now displayed instead of diagonal interpolation lines.

Bug fixes

The calculation of the "Cooling machine with heat recovery" was corrected for specific cases.
Fixed incorrect display of heating demands for multiple buildings in the submenu.
Optimized water volume calculation in district heating.

Version 3.2
January 2025

In this version, the simulation core was fundamentally revised and improved.

Key Improvements

Versioning of the simulation core: Users can switch to the latest version of the simulation core to use the most up-to-date calculations while also being able to reproduce old project results exactly by switching to an older simulation core.
More precise output of design results: Design results are now displayed with one decimal place for values below 25 (instead of rounding to the next higher whole number). This is helpful for calculating small systems, such as single-family homes.

Bug fixes

The display of the maximum optimization interval for PVT collectors was incorrect in some cases.
The nominal heating capacity of the air-source heat pump was incorrectly displayed in the Excel export in specific cases.
The calculation of the internal rate of return was incorrect and deducted the assumed interest rate. This has been corrected for all versions of the simulation core (3.1, 3.2).

Version 3.1
December 2024

Version 3.1 introduces numerous improvements and bug fixes, particularly in GIS-based district heating network planning and in adjusting building parameters.

Main updates

Enhanced building data import: Building settings are now more accurately adjusted to match uploaded data. For example, when uploading heating load data in an Excel sheet, the calculation option "Heating Load" is automatically activated in the buildings.
Revised load profile export: Improved and expanded export for district and individual building projects.
Extended options for district-wide modifications: The following parameters can now be adjusted for multiple buildings at once:

Building type and specification
Number of apartments
Calculation options for space heating: annual demand, heating load, or both
Enable/disable ventilation
Heating limit temperature
Full-load hours
Specific heating load
Enable/disable heat recovery and adjust heat recovery rate
Option: Space heating includes domestic hot water
Enable/disable heating period
Activate/deactivate renovation measures
Extended calculation options for domestic hot water: annual demand, specific demand, daily demand (liters or Wh/m²), and share of total heat demand
Base area and floor area
Year of construction
Street name
Number of floors
Building height

Pipe diameters can now be fixed for multiple pipes with a single click.
Building list export: The temperature difference for space heating and the cold water temperature for domestic hot water have been added.
Visualizations: Cold water temperature and temperature spread for space heating can now also be visualized on the map.

Bug fixes

Uploading pipe parameters using a previously exported nPro file did not work correctly and has been fixed.
In the scenario comparison, subsidies were incorrectly displayed as positive instead of negative in the cost breakdown graph. This issue has been corrected.
The temperature difference between supply and return flow for space heating demands can now be uploaded correctly (conversion from Kelvin to °C has been removed).

Version 3.0
October 2024

Version 3.0 introduces extensive features for GIS-based heating network planning and many other new functionalities.

Main new features

Integration of a geographic map for the design, simulation, and visualization of district heating networks.
Data import of georeferenced data: GeoJson, Shapefile, geoPackage files
Integration of a pipe database: Steel, plastic; single and twin pipes
Integration of new export formats: Building list, pipe list, etc.
Many small improvements in the energy hub module (see below)
Revised and expanded economic calculations

Important information regarding the update

Once the new nPro version is online, you can access it at https://app.npro.energy, and the corresponding academic version at https://acad.npro.energy.
You can still access the old version with your existing projects at https://v2.npro.energy (old academic version at https://acadv2.npro.energy).

Additional new features

Permanent display of project storage status
Instead of 6 custom colors, you can now define 12 colors to represent tool diagrams.
6 new building types have been added: Production, warehouse, library, church, mixed-use, other. For the "mixed-use" type, multiple usage areas can be defined.
You can now differentiate between "water" (standard heat networks) or "brine" (water mixed with ethylene glycol at 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%) as the heat transfer fluid for heat networks.
Output of the internal rate of return in the economic evaluation
If custom weather data is uploaded, a custom location for the result output can be defined.
More robust calculation of user-defined heat pump models. Revised data for the heat pump library.
Revised building parameters for entering heat demand:
- Expanded calculation options: Enter annual heat demand, enter heating load, or enter both annual heat demand and heating load.
- The domestic hot water demand can be entered as a percentage of the total heat demand.
- Domestic hot water demand can be entered in "liters/day" or "Wh/m²/day".
- Direct conversion of heat demand from various fuels (heating oil, natural gas, etc.) using an integrated unit converter.
Reduced calculation time for districts with many buildings (factor 5 to 10 faster).
Added economic indicators in the Excel export.
In addition to energy price, capacity price, and base price, one-time connection fees for all buildings connected to the heat network can now be considered in the economic calculation.
Separate assignment of investment costs, maintenance costs, and lifespan for heat pumps and chillers, which are used in combination with geothermal energy, heat sources, or PVT collectors.
Explicit output of heat pump capacity directly in the design results.
Export all heat network time series in hourly resolution as an Excel file: supply and return temperatures, undisturbed ground temperature, heat network losses/gains.
Export building and route data as GeoJson files.
Visualization of net present value (NPV) trends over time in a direct comparison between scenarios.
Ability to display NPV curves over specific time intervals, e.g., "2025" to "2045" instead of "Year 1" to "Year 20".
New result graphic: Specific emissions per kWh plotted against levelized costs of heat.

Bug fixes

Hourly tariff profiles for direct feed-in can now be uploaded for photovoltaics, wind power, and hydroelectricity.
Fixed incorrect display of the temperature level of cooling demand in 4-pipe systems.
Removed redundant indication of district cooling costs in the Excel export.

Version 3.0
October 2024

Version 3.0 includes features for GIS-based district heat network planning and many new calculation functions. All updates are described in detail under Information about Version 3.0. The key new features are as follows:

Map function for GIS-based district heat network planning
Data import of georeferenced data: GeoJson, Shapefile, geoPackage
Integration of a pipe database
Integration of new export formats: building list, pipe list, etc.
Many small improvements in the energy hub module
Revised and extended profitability calculation

Important information about the release

Once the new nPro version goes online, you can access it at https://app.npro.energy and the corresponding academic version at https://acad.npro.energy.
You can still access the old version with your old projects at https://v2.npro.energy (old academic version: https://acadv2.npro.energy).

Version 2.2
February 2024

Version 2.2 brings further improvements and new features:

Individual feed-in tariffs: For combined heat and power plants, photovoltaics, wind power and hydropower, individual feed-in tariffs can be defined (e.g. for CHP subsidies). In addition, it can be decided whether the generated electricity can be used in the system itself and a remuneration for self-consumed electricity can be defined.
Simplified revenue input: Revenues for demand coverage can be adjusted directly with one click on the economic analysis page. In addition, the levelized costs of heat are calculated.
New KPIs on result page: Levelized costs of heat, heat costs per floor area, monthly heat costs per floor area, CO₂ emissions per heat demand, CO₂ emissions per floor area, primary energy per heat demand, primary energy per floor area, payback period, System COP
Modeling of a 4-pipe system consisting of two separate networks: district heating and cooling network
Minor improvements in the user interface

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Version 2.1
January 2024

Version 2.1 brings numerous improvements and new features:

Excel export of the result page integrated and extended
Geothermal design module integrated: nPro now also allows the detailed design of ground source fields.
Upload of building data using a pre-filled Excel list
Integration of real COP data (from heat pump manufacturers)
Definition of heat pump models extended (possibility to specify the heat source)
Acceleration of tool usage by avoiding unnecessary calculation iterations
Revenues for hydrogen for energy center and district projects added
Integration of the design function for long-term or short-term storage
Introduction of a user-defined maximum calculation time for complex calculations
Error corrections:
- The output of the throttled thermal output was calculated incorrectly for PVT collectors if a heat pump was provided for PVT. The results of the overall simulation were not affected by this.
- The solar thermal area was incorrectly always given as 0 m² in the result overview.
- Minor spelling and programming errors

Version 2.0
Fall 2023

The version 2.0 contains over 50 new calculation functions. All new features are described in detail in Information about Version 2.0. The most important new features:

New software structure with three project types: District, single building and energy hub
Scenario comparison: Compare an unlimited number of project scenarios
New technology structure with numerous new interconnection options
New technologies: PVT collectors and ice storage
You can calculate various district heating network types: Conventional district heating, low-ex heat network with decentralized hot water heating, 5th generation district heating and cooling networks, as well as decentralized air- or ground-source heat pumps as a alternative solution
Many new visualizations for result analysis and utilization

Version 1.1
October 2022

Output of self-sufficiency rate and self-consumption ratio
Introduction of a multi-criteria optimization (Pareto solutions: cost vs. emissions).
Integration of Pareto diagram
Output of annual coefficient of performance for air-source heat pumps and SEER for cooling supply
Language of email communication can be changed by users
Various error corrections and usability improvements