Author(s)

Amina Mourid, Mustapha El Alami^*, Mostafa Najam

Laboratory of Physics of Materials, Microelectronics, Automation & Thermal (LPMMAT), Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences Ain Chock, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Casablanca, Morocco.

Energy efficiency in buildings is today a prime objective for energy policy at national and international levels. Because the residential and commercial energy consumption has steadily increased reaching figures between 20% and 40%. The use of thermal insulation of the building envelope is one of the most currently requested solutions to reduce this energy consumption. Phase Change Materials (PCM) have received increased attention due to their ability to store large amounts of thermal energy within narrow temperature ranges. This property makes them ideal for storage of passive heat in the building envelopes. An experimental study was conducted to analyze the influence of PCM in the construction of exterior walls. Two test cells are constructed in the Faculty of Science Ain Chock, Casablanca. One is equipped with a 0.56 cm layer of PCM on its roof while the second is a reference cell without PCM. The results presented for the period from 8th to 10^th July 2014 show that the integration of PCM layer reduces the amplitude of instantaneous heat flux through the horizontal wall. The indoor and the internal vertical wall temperatures, in the case of the cell with PCM, are relatively decreased compared to those of the reference one. For example, the maximum deviation between the indoor temperatures of the cubicles is not more than 1.5℃ while the one on the west faces reaches 3℃ by mid day. Also the inclusion of a layer of PCM shifts the time of peak load and discharge.

Energy Efficiency, Experimental Study, PCM, Solar Radiation Insulation, Summer, Casablanca

Mourid, A. , Alami, M. and Najam, M. (2016) Passive Study of Energy Efficiency of a Building with PCM on the Roof during Summer in Casablanca. Journal of Power and Energy Engineering, 4, 26-37. doi: 10.4236/jpee.2016.48003.