Phase change materials and thermal energy storage for buildings

Abstract

It is well known that there is a need to develop technologies to achieve thermal comfort in buildings lowering the cooling and heating demand. Research has shown that thermal energy storage (TES) is a way to do so, but also other purposes can be pursued when using TES in buildings, such as peak shaving or increase of energy efficiency in HVAC systems. This paper reviews TES in buildings using sensible, latent heat and thermochemical energy storage. Sustainable heating and cooling with TES in buildings can be achieved through passive systems in building envelopes, Phase Change Materials (PCM) in active systems, sorption systems, and seasonal storage.

The work partially funded by the Spanish government (ENE2011-22722 and ULLE10-4E-1305). The authors would like to thank the Catalan Government for the quality accreditation given to their research group (2014 SGR 123). The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. PIRSES-GA-2013-610692 (INNOSTORAGE). Alvaro de Gracia would like to thank Education Ministry of Chile for Grant PMI ANT1201.