Tag Archives: phase change materials (PCMs).

989-998 M. Kiviste and R. Lindberg
The feasibility of phase change materials in building structures for saving heating energy in the Nordic climate
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The feasibility of phase change materials in building structures for saving heating energy in the Nordic climate

M. Kiviste* and R. Lindberg

DepartmentofCivilEngineering,TampereUniversityofTechnology,Tekniikankatu 12, P.O.Box 600,FI-33101 Tampere, Finland; *Correspondence: mihkel.kiviste@tut.fi

Abstract:

The study is based on a nearly two-decade research at the Department of Civil Engineering at the Tampere University of Technology (Finland). The purpose of the current study is to find out the structural solutions for the thermal storage of solar radiation in buildings. A significant effect of solar gains was noticed in massive external walls as well as roof structures in sunny days from March until September. However, modern lightweight materials lack the thermal inertia to store energy. An idea to utilize the latent heat of phase change materials (PCMs) inside the insulation of a light-weight roof structure enables to overcome this problem. The idea is supported with a principal example of the diurnal performance of a metal sheet roof structure as well as comparative calculation of the energies consumed and gained. The results of the current study show that PCMs have potential in the future application of light-weight roof structures. In general, efficient solar solutions still need to be developed in order to store energy in summer and to release it in winter.

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