An experimental evaluation of thermal behavior of the building envelope using macroencapsulated PCM for energy savings

Abstract

There is a very significant rise in energy demand of the building sector in developing countries. A major portion of this energy is used for space cooling and heating in buildings. Due to the concern of global warming, energy-efficient solution in buildings is the need of the hour. Increasing the thermal energy storage capacity of the building by using Phase Change Material (PCM) is an innovative technique to reduce the energy demand. This paper evaluates the thermal response of the building envelope integrated with macroencapsulated PCM under real tropical environment. The indoor thermal profile of both the cubicles in terms of peak temperature, time lag, and thermal amplitude was studied. The reduction in cooling load and energy saving in terms of cost/kWh of electricity was also evaluated. The thermography images of both the cubicles were also analyzed to find out the thermal response of the cubicles towards macro-encapsulation. The results show 40.67%–59.79% reduction in thermal amplitude, including 7.19%–9.18% fall in peak temperature of all the walls, the roof and indoor ambient of experimental cubical. Additionally, 60–120 min of time delay along with 38.76% of reduction in cooling load of the experimental cubicle was achieved.