Review on the Life Cycle Assessment of Thermal Energy Storage Used in Building Applications

Abstract

To reduce building sector CO2 emissions, integrating renewable energy and thermal energy storage (TES) into building design is crucial. TES provides a way of storing thermal energy during high renewable energy production for use later during peak energy demand in buildings. The type of thermal energy stored in TES can be divided into three categories: sensible, latent, and sorption/chemical. Unlike sensible TES, latent TES and sorption/chemical TES have not been widely applied; however, they have the advantage of a higher energy density, making them effective for building applications. Most TES research focuses on technical design and rarely addresses its environmental, social, and cost impact. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an internationally standardized method for evaluating the environmental impacts of any process. Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) is an expansion of LCA, including economic and social sustainability assessments. This paper aims to provide a literature review of the LCA and LCSA of TES, specifically for building applications. Concerning the low technology readiness level (TRL) of several TES systems, the challenges and benefits of conducting LCA for these systems are highlighted. Furthermore, based on published studies on emerging technologies for LCA, a suggested procedure to carry out the LCA of TES with low TRL is presented.