Energy savings due to the use of PCM for relocatable lightweight buildings passive heating and cooling in different weather conditions

Abstract

Relocatable, transportable or off-site constructed lightweight buildings typically undergo sharp indoor temperature fluctuations in the heating and cooling seasons due to the lack of sufficient thermal mass in their envelopes, resulting in high energy consumption to provide the zone with comfort temperature. The application of phase change materials has been suggested as a promising solution to control the indoor thermal condition in buildings. This work is an attempt to support the application of PCM technology in lightweight relocatable buildings as a passive alternative to save energy under different weather conditions. The numerical results highlighted the potential of using PCM-enhanced gypsum boards in lightweight buildings to increase the energy performance during both heating and cooling seasons in arid and warm temperate main climate areas.

The authors from Chile acknowledge to CONICYT/FONDAP No. 15110019. This work has been partially funded by the Spanish government (ENE2015-64117-C5-1-R (MINECO/FEDER) and ENE2015-64117-C5-3-R (MINECO/FEDER)). 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) and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 657466 (INPATH-TES). Alvaro de Gracia would like to thank Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España for Grant Juan de la Cierva, FJCI-2014-19940. Paula Marin thanks fellowship CONICYT-PCHA/doctorado nacional/2015-21151359.