Improvement of thermal inertia effect in buildings using shape stabilized PCM wallboard based on the enthalpy-temperature function

Abstract

The use of phase change material as an efficient way to use building energy has recently been discovered as this material occupies 40 % of the total carbon emissions through energy used in the building sector. In order to apply phase change materials to buildings, phase stabilization must first be achieved; some researchers have developed shape-stabilized phase change material (SSPCM). In this study, the enthalpy-temperature function based on the thermal properties of 22 types of SSPCMs were analyzed and applied to a dynamic energy simulation program. The SSPCM was applied to improve the low heat storage performance of wooden buildings along with building energy savings. The SSPCM was applied to the inner side of a 20-mm-thick external wall in a case study concerning the inside and outside of an external wall. An analysis of the annual energy consumption of buildings showed that applying SSPCM resulted in average savings of 5 %. To confirm the improvement in the heat storage performance of buildings, the indoor temperature behavior during the heating and cooling periods was analyzed. Maintaining the thermal inertia of SSPCM was found to have reduced the peak temperature in summer by 4.1 °C.