This User Guide explains how to use ApPro, the Profiles Database.
Profiles describe the time variation of thermal input parameters. They are used in IES’s thermal analysis tools such as CIBSELoads, ASHRAELoads, ApacheSim, ApacheHVAC, MacroFlo, VE-Compliance, the ASHRAE 90.1 (PRM) navigators and the Building Template Manager. Examples of their use include scheduling plant equipment, modulating casual gains and ventilation rates, specifying the timing and degree of window opening and defining time-varying set-points and supply temperatures.
Profiles are classified into two types:
· Modulating profiles are used to modulate inputs such as gains, ventilation rates and window openings, and to schedule plant. They take the form of a time series of values in the range 0 - 1.
· Absolute profiles are used to specify the time variation of variables such as set-points and supply temperatures. They take the form of a time series of a physical variable (most commonly temperature).
Both modulating and absolute profiles can be defined as functions of weather or simulation variables. They are then known as formula profiles.
A profile specifies time variation over a year. It is assembled from daily profiles describing the pattern of variation over a day. Daily profiles are built into weekly profiles to establish a repeating pattern over the weeks of the year. Optionally, different weekly patterns can be used for different date ranges by defining annual profiles.
Modulating profiles can alternatively be defined more quickly by creating compact profiles, which allow the variation throughout the hours of the day, the days of the week and the months of the year to be defined in a single dialogue box. However, for compact profiles, the value of the modulating profile can only be 0 (inactive) or 1 (active), and not any value in between.
Modulating and absolute profiles can also be created for discrete months, days, hours and minutes of a year, by means of free-form profiles. These profiles can be created via fine-grained data held in spreadsheets, such as measured data from real buildings over a year and used to control the profile value directly at each timestep. Tools are provided in the VEScripts Navigator to facilitate creation of Free Form Data files for use in Free Form Profiles.
More complex scripted profiles can also be defined if needed. These are for advanced users.
ApPro may be accessed by clicking on the ApPro icon 
found in many applications.
Its purpose is to allow you to define a set of profiles for use in the project. ApPro provides facilities for creating, viewing, editing and copying profiles, aided by access to a central ‘system’ database of profiles. Profiles may also be transferred from one project to another.
