Assign Usage Profiles
Usage Profiles panel: assign usage profiles from the database or table to rooms, remove, replace, and colour, filter and select rooms by profile
Overview
In the Usage Profiles panel you assign a usage profile (also called a zone template in parts of the interface) from the database to the rooms of the building. A usage profile bundles all usage-dependent boundary conditions of a room type – internal loads, infiltration and ventilation, thermostat and control settings, and ideal heating/cooling. The assignment is stored directly on the room; each room can reference exactly one usage profile. The internal structure of a profile is described in Structure of a Usage Profile.
Only with an assigned usage profile do a room’s internal loads, ventilation, setpoints and ideal building services enter the dynamic simulation, see Internal Loads and Ventilation and Ideal Heating and Surface Heating. Rooms without a profile are simulated as unconditioned zones without loads.
Opening the panel
Building workspace, 
Building button in the left toolbar, then the Usage Profiles page. When the page is opened, the 3D scene automatically switches to the false-colour mode for usage profiles.
Table and false-colour display
The panel table (column heading Usage profile) lists all usage profiles currently assigned to visible rooms – one row per profile with a colour field and name. It also serves as the legend for the scene colouring:
| Row | Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Name of the usage profile | Colour of the database element | Rooms with a valid usage profile |
| <invalid usage profile ID> | Dark grey | Rooms whose profile reference points to no existing database entry (e.g. deleted element) |
In the 3D scene, all surfaces of a room are coloured in the colour of its usage profile; rooms without a profile keep the neutral grey default colour. The floating scene legend is titled Zone templates. Hidden rooms are considered neither in the table nor in the colouring, see Selection and Visibility.
Filters “Colour selected only” and “Show selected only”
Below the table are two filter checkboxes:
- Colour selected only – colours only the rooms whose usage profile is currently highlighted in the table; all other rooms appear grey. When another table row is clicked, the colouring is updated immediately.
- Show selected only – hides all rooms that do not carry the usage profile highlighted in the table; only the rooms with this profile (including their surfaces) remain visible. The visibility change is a regular undo action (Change zone visibility based on selected usage profile) and can be undone. When the checkbox is deactivated, all rooms are shown again.
Both filters only take effect as long as a row with a valid profile is highlighted in the table.
Good to know:
For quality control before a simulation run, a glance at the false-colour display is enough: grey rooms have no usage profile yet, and a dark grey <invalid usage profile ID> row points to deleted database entries. With Show selected only you can then check profile by profile whether the right rooms are really captured.
Assigning a usage profile
The Selected rooms area is active as soon as at least one room is selected in the scene. The Selected usage profile: line shows the state of the current room selection: None (no profile assigned), name and ID for exactly one profile, %1 different templates for a mixed selection, or Usage profile with invalid/unknown ID.
Behind Assign zone template two ways are available:
DB… – opens the database dialog for selecting a usage profile (also accessible via Databases > Usage Profile…). After confirmation, the chosen profile is assigned to all selected rooms. On the first call, a note dialog appears (You can now select a usage profile from the database, which will then be assigned to the selected rooms.), which can be permanently disabled.
Table – assigns the usage profile highlighted in the table directly, without a dialog. The button is only active when a row with a valid profile is highlighted.
Both actions can be reversed via the undo function.
Removing a usage profile
Remove releases the profile assignment of all selected rooms; the rooms are retained but lose their usage-dependent boundary conditions and appear grey again in the false-colour display. The database entry itself is not deleted.
Editing a usage profile
Edit… opens the usage profile highlighted in the table in the database dialog; a double-click on the table row has the same effect. Changes affect only the database entry, not the assignments in the project.
Replacing a usage profile
Replace… replaces the assignments of the usage profile highlighted in the table on all visible rooms with another profile. After a note dialog (This replaces all assignments with the usage profile “%1 [%2]” with another template.) you select the replacement profile in the database dialog; all visible rooms that previously carried the old profile then receive the new one. Hidden rooms keep their previous assignment. If the original profile has meanwhile been deleted from the database, the action is aborted with the message Usage profile with ID %1 was no longer found in the DB.
Selecting rooms with a usage profile
Select selects all rooms with the usage profile highlighted in the table – including their surfaces and sub-surfaces (windows). The selection is an undo action (Select objects with usage profile “%1”). For the <invalid usage profile ID> row, the button – like Edit… and Replace… – is disabled.