Application of Phase-Change Materials in Buildings

Abstract

Phase-Change Materials (PCMs) are substances with a high heat of fusion that melt and solidifyat a certain temperature range. Theyare capable of storing and releasing large amounts of energy and have a high capacity of storing heat. PCMs preventenergy loss during material changes from solid to liquid or liquid to solid. They have several advantages such as its self-nucleating properties, and disadvantages such as having low thermal conductivity [4].There are different types of PCM with a wide range of applications. This paperstudies the potential application of PCMs in building as energy conservation materials.The analysis shows the result shows that the use of BioPCM materialas insulation layer in building can decrease the cooling load by 20% in comparison to standard one.