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The study aims at analyzing the performance of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) in residential housing for different climates. This paper presents the results of an experiment performed in the Concordia University Solar Simulator and Environmental Chamber research facility (SSEC, Montreal, Canada). PCM boards were embedded on the back wall of a test hut placed in the climatic chamber. Several experiments were performed to explore the potential for verification of the proposed analysis and to produce enough data to perform model calibrations. Results show a strong increase in the apparent thermal inertia of the room allowing for a reduction in daily temperature fluctuations in the test hut. Simulations were carried out by means of a calibrated EnergyPlus model to broaden the analysis in both a cold Canadian climate and in a Mediterranean temperate climate. Other configurations for the setup environment were studied to simulate the issues of very hot summers in Mediterranean climate. The different configurations ended up with mixed results for the two locations analyzed: the maximization of the solar gains and its storage in a high density multiple layer PCM wall is the better configuration for the cold climate analyzed, while its performance is non optimal for hot climates where the “emulation” of high thermal mass walls by PCM in lightweight structures requires a different positioning of the PCM panels

Smart home is a concept that aims to enhance the comfort of residents and facilitate household activities. The smart home is an application of ubiquitous computing which can provide the user with context-aware automated or assistive services in the form of ambient intelligence, remote control of home appliances, or automation. Smart homes attempt to integrate smartness into homes to guarantee the residents’ convenience, safety, and security, while conserving the energy. The capabilities of a smart home in the context of different applications, have been scrutinized for this investigation. Different proposed architectures, protocols, and infrastructures have been taken into consideration. As the data management process is a vital part of a smart home system, many procedures of data collection, storage, and analysis have been surveyed. Methods of data acquisition has also been discussed. Existing challenges, pros, and cons of proposed schemes along with future perspectives of smart homes are identified in this report, which is intended to promote future research directions.

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