Application of PCM in Building‘s Envelope of Lightweight Prefabricated Houses as an addition to a PV driven renovation cooling system by EU project HEART
Abstract
Countries with moderate climate have heat gains during the year smaller compared to the heat losses. Therefore, most of the attention on lightweight prefabricated houses is given for thermal insulation (nZEB). Thermal capacity of such envelopes is very low, which can result in overheating of the indoor spaces over the summer months. As a result, the energy needed for mechanical air-conditioning can even exceed the needs for heating. The envelope coupled with PCM layer is introduced. Different types of envelopes applied on residential building are simulated with Energy plus and compared. The results showed that the performance of several variations of PCM are comparable to the heavyweight structure. Also, the mechanical ventilation driven on photovoltaics can efficiently cover the remaining amounts of energy needed for additional cooling. It shows that when the PCM strategy, melting point and capacity are chosen correctly, the produced electrical energy in total can be used for other purposes. This means that a large variety of the products must be available for the building’s installation. To satisfy the low energy consumption and thermal comfort (by decreasing inner operative temperatures), the holistic approach (the combination of the active and passive system) is the best solution.