TITLE:
Evaluation of Thermal Effect of PCM Wallboards by Coupling Simplified Phase Change Model with Design Tool
AUTHORS:
Alain Guiavarch, Denis Bruneau, Bruno Peuportier
KEYWORDS:
Phase Change Material; Wallboard; Thermal Model; Dynamic Simulation; Summer Comfort; Design Tools
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Building Construction and Planning Research,
Vol.2 No.1,
March
18,
2014
ABSTRACT: A simplified PCM wallboard model is coupled to an existing design-oriented model of multi-zone buildings. Using a reference model and a basic simulation configuration, the accuracy of the resulting PCM wallboard-building thermal design tool is evaluated. A new performance indicator, called PCM utilization factor, is then proposed in order to estimate the thermal efficiency of using PCM wallboards in buildings. Using this PCM Utilization factor and a degrees-hours indicator, the ability of the PCM wallboard-building thermal design tool to evaluate the effect of PCM wallboards on heating loads and summer thermal comfort in the early design phase of a project is examined in two real case studies: a family house project and an existing office building. The user-friendliness of this design tool, and the short calculation times it leads to when performing a year-long simulation using a standard office computer, make it a well-adapted tool for sensibility studies or multi-criterion optimization for buildings that contain PCM wallboards.