Review on Phase Change Materials for Building Applications

Abstract

Buildings are large consumers of energy in all countries. According to the statistic, more than 40% of final energy is used in buildings. A reduction of the energy consumed in buildings is, for that reason, one of the priorities of the world. To achieve this goal it is necessary to reduce the heat loss by the selection of the building thermal insulation materials. Phase change materials could absorb or release a large amount of heat before melting or solidifying. And this unique property could help PCM in building applications to maintain the thermal comfort without using mechanical heating and air-conditioning. The paper is focus on a review of different types of phase change material for building applications. And it provides more information in this aspect.