Phase change materials for building insulation: application to an active cooling ceiling at the Energy Efficiency Center

The present thesis project has been developed at the Department of Energy and Building Services Engineering of the Munich University of Applied Sciences. The thesis intends to present an overview of the use of phase change materials (PCM) for building insulation applications. In light of the high energy consumption in the building sector, the latent heat storage capacity of PCMs could be effectively used to provide passive thermal regulation of the indoor temperature as well as reduce energy consumption due to thermal regulation in buildings, which is often caused by high energy consuming solutions, such as air conditioning systems. The first chapter is an introduction on conventional approaches and traditional materials used for building insulation, with an overview of the environmental impact of thermal regulation of buildings. The second chapter is a detailed analysis of the state of the art of phase change materials; this chapter also describes the thermodynamic process of latent heat storage in PCMs, along with the operating principles of the materials, the most effective installation procedures available, the advantages of PCMs compared to other conventional solutions, as well as several examples of PCM applications from the literature. The third chapter describes the Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) as a tool to calculate the optimum thickness of conventional insulation materials and the limits of this approach when applied to PCM insulation sizing. The fourth chapter shows the different options available on the market for PCM insulation, with a detailed description of a real application of PCM integrated into a cooling ceiling system at the Energy Efficiency Center in Wurzburg (Germany). The fifth chapter presents the financial approaches to promote refurbishment and energy-improvement in buildings. The sixth and final chapter presents the conclusions of the research and future potential studies on the topic of PCMs.