Abstract
Globally, almost 40% of carbon emissions are attributable to building operation and embodied carbon. Phase change materials (PCMs) can store solar energy during peak periods to decrease summer cooling loads and overnight winter heating loads and emissions. At present, most PCMs are non-renewable paraffins with high embodied carbon; plant-based oils such as coconut oil may maintain the conditioning load reductions, while reducing the sustainability and embodied carbon of PCMs. The objective of this study was to determine the economic and emissions of coconut oil as an alternative to paraffins via full house simulations in three North American locations within different climate zones. It was found that paraffin PCM had greater embodied carbon and annual heating and cooling reductions than the coconut oil, causing the lifecycle carbon footprint to be lower with paraffin PCM than with the coconut oil over the house lifetime. This indicates the importance of developing bio-based PCMs with latent heat capacity that more closely compare to paraffins, in order to minimize total building carbon footprint. It was also found that the economic payback period of both PCMs may exceed the lifetime of the house and thus render the PCMs infeasible without reductions in capital costs or increased carbon pricing.
Published Version
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