PCM application in light construction buildings in various climates

Abstract

Incorporating phase change materials (PCM) into building structures as passive latent heat thermal energy storage technologies offers a potential solution for reducing energy demand and regulating thermal comfort in occupied buildings. Integrating PCM into lightweight walls can improve their thermal performance by increasing building heat capacity and decreasing energy consumption. The effects of phase change materials (PCMs) added to the thermal envelope of lightweight residential containers on building thermal comfort are investigated in this study. The simulations were run for the summer period because it is difficult to achieve thermal comfort without using a lot of energy at that time. Thermal comfort is highly dependent on both, climatic conditions and the materials used to construct the building's thermal envelope, and the simulation was performed for weather conditions in five different geographic locations using TRNSYS simulation software. The paper examines the effects of PCM on indoor air temperature, specifically on reduction of maximum air temperature and temperature fluctuationsXII Međunarodna konferencija o društvenom i tehnološkom razvoju, Trebinje, 15-18. juni 2023