The Use of Phase Change Materials to Improve the External Walls' Thermal Parameters of Heated Buildings

Abstract

Currently, it is estimated that the construction sector consumes over 40% of the energy produced and about 50% of the mass of processed materials. As a consequence, there is a challenge to look for alternative material solutions allowing for the storage and conversion of energy. Phase change materials give us such opportunities. Their introduction leads to additional benefits related to thermal parameters. The work presents a short overview of PCMs along with the possibility of their application. Then, as part of the research, the selected phase change material was applied to the internal plaster layer of an external wall to check its activity. The obtained results were compared to the values of reference samples (without PCM). The proposed solution leads to the improvement of the analyzed partitions' thermal parameters.