A Study on the Integration of Phase Change Materials in Building Construction

Student Presenter(s): Jacqueline Ras
Faculty Mentor: Ehsan Kamel
Department: Energy Management
School/College: School of Architecture and Design, Long Island

The increasing rates of energy consumption are becoming a major concern for civilizations around the world. Energy consumption in the United States can be broken down into four major sectors that include Residential, Commercial, Industrial, and Transportation. Each sector is seeking new, innovative ways to transform the way we consume energy in order to minimize the growing concerns regarding climate change. Of these sectors, buildings are responsible for 40 percent of the total energy consumption in the U.S. Phase Change Material (PCM) is one of these solutions that is helping to transform the way we think about materials. PCMs are types of substances, i.e. paraffin salts, waxes and non-paraffin organics, that absorbs heat during the day and releases the heat during the night to keep the temperature within the comfort level without the use of heating and cooling systems to reduce the energy consumption. This study reviews the various forms of PCM applications in different building envelope systems and how they perform with regards to thermal energy storage and their potential energy saving in buildings. To have a better understanding PCM's applications and its impact on energy use, three case studies are reviewed to study their operating temperature range, latent heat of fusion, melting congruency, thermal properties and energy saving potentials. The outcomes of this study can contribute to the selection of proper PCM materials for applications in sustainable building design.