IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i20p5212-d1502606.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the Impact of Phase-Change Materials on Enhancing the Thermal Efficiency of Buildings in Tropical Climates

Author

Listed:
  • Tássio Luiz dos Santos

    (Laboratory of Analysis and Development of Buildings, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Av. Costa e Silva, s/n, Bairro Universitário, Campo Grande 79070-900, Brazil)

  • Arthur Santos Silva

    (Laboratory of Analysis and Development of Buildings, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Av. Costa e Silva, s/n, Bairro Universitário, Campo Grande 79070-900, Brazil)

  • Diogo Duarte dos Reis

    (Institute of Physics, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande 79070-900, Brazil)

Abstract

Civil construction and buildings account for a significant 36% of worldwide energy consumption, contributing to 37% of global CO 2 emissions. In Brazil, buildings consume a substantial 51.2% of the nation’s electricity production. Remarkably, approximately one-third of this energy is allocated specifically for maintaining thermal comfort within these structures. The thermal performance of a building has a significant impact on its energy efficiency; in this way, technologies developed to contribute to the energy efficiency of envelopes can directly contribute to the reduction in the building’s overall energy consumption. PCMs are technologies capable of absorbing heat without increasing temperature and can contribute to the better energy performance of envelopes. PCMs are used as a thermal performance solution in cold climate regions, and studies show that they are likely to work in buildings in tropical climates. The objective of this work is to analyze the performance of PCMs in tropical regions of the southern hemisphere, specifically in Brazil, and their behavior according to the constructive system used. Computer simulation contributes to an analysis closer to the reality of the implementation of this technology in these regions. This work is carried out with simulations in the software EnergyPlus TM version 24.1. The results demonstrate that PCMs can effectively contribute to a reduction in energy consumption for the thermal comfort of buildings in tropical climates, demonstrating the possible feasibility of the development of this technology for tropical climates.

Suggested Citation

  • Tássio Luiz dos Santos & Arthur Santos Silva & Diogo Duarte dos Reis, 2024. "Assessing the Impact of Phase-Change Materials on Enhancing the Thermal Efficiency of Buildings in Tropical Climates," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-21, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:20:p:5212-:d:1502606
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/20/5212/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/20/5212/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jin, Xing & Medina, Mario A. & Zhang, Xiaosong, 2013. "On the importance of the location of PCMs in building walls for enhanced thermal performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 72-78.
    2. Lei, Jiawei & Yang, Jinglei & Yang, En-Hua, 2016. "Energy performance of building envelopes integrated with phase change materials for cooling load reduction in tropical Singapore," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 207-217.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Monika Gandhi & Ashok Kumar & Rajasekar Elangovan & Chandan Swaroop Meena & Kishor S. Kulkarni & Anuj Kumar & Garima Bhanot & Nishant R. Kapoor, 2020. "A Review on Shape-Stabilized Phase Change Materials for Latent Energy Storage in Buildings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-17, November.
    2. Zeyad Amin Al-Absi & Mohd Hafizal Mohd Isa & Mazran Ismail, 2020. "Phase Change Materials (PCMs) and Their Optimum Position in Building Walls," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-25, February.
    3. Ye, Rongda & Lin, Wenzhu & Yuan, Kunjie & Fang, Xiaoming & Zhang, Zhengguo, 2017. "Experimental and numerical investigations on the thermal performance of building plane containing CaCl2·6H2O/expanded graphite composite phase change material," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 325-335.
    4. Zhang, Yuan & Jiang, Weixue & Song, Jinwei & Xu, Li & Li, Shengcai & Hu, Lantian, 2023. "A parametric model on thermal evaluation of building envelopes containing phase change material," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    5. Ghosh, Aritra & Norton, Brian & Duffy, Aidan, 2016. "Behaviour of a SPD switchable glazing in an outdoor test cell with heat removal under varying weather conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 695-706.
    6. Mi, Xuming & Liu, Ran & Cui, Hongzhi & Memon, Shazim Ali & Xing, Feng & Lo, Yiu, 2016. "Energy and economic analysis of building integrated with PCM in different cities of China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 324-336.
    7. Lamrani, B. & Johannes, K. & Kuznik, F., 2021. "Phase change materials integrated into building walls: An updated review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    8. Jaworski, Maciej & Łapka, Piotr & Furmański, Piotr, 2014. "Numerical modelling and experimental studies of thermal behaviour of building integrated thermal energy storage unit in a form of a ceiling panel," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 548-557.
    9. Saafi, Khawla & Daouas, Naouel, 2019. "Energy and cost efficiency of phase change materials integrated in building envelopes under Tunisia Mediterranean climate," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    10. Li, Yantong & Huang, Gongsheng & Xu, Tao & Liu, Xiaoping & Wu, Huijun, 2018. "Optimal design of PCM thermal storage tank and its application for winter available open-air swimming pool," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 224-235.
    11. Xu, Haoxin & Romagnoli, Alessandro & Sze, Jia Yin & Py, Xavier, 2017. "Application of material assessment methodology in latent heat thermal energy storage for waste heat recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 281-290.
    12. Sun, Xiaoqin & Medina, Mario A. & Lee, Kyoung Ok & Jin, Xing, 2018. "Laboratory assessment of residential building walls containing pipe-encapsulated phase change materials for thermal management," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 383-391.
    13. Diana Carolina Gámez-García & José Manuel Gómez-Soberón & Ramón Corral-Higuera & Héctor Saldaña-Márquez & María Consolación Gómez-Soberón & Susana Paola Arredondo-Rea, 2018. "A Cradle to Handover Life Cycle Assessment of External Walls: Choice of Materials and Prognosis of Elements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-24, August.
    14. Rostami, Sara & Afrand, Masoud & Shahsavar, Amin & Sheikholeslami, M. & Kalbasi, Rasool & Aghakhani, Saeed & Shadloo, Mostafa Safdari & Oztop, Hakan F., 2020. "A review of melting and freezing processes of PCM/nano-PCM and their application in energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    15. Zhang, Yuan & Sun, Xiaoqin & Medina, Mario A., 2024. "Experimental assessment of concrete masonry units integrated with insulation and phase change material: A wall-pattern study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    16. Cui, Hongzhi & Tang, Waiching & Qin, Qinghua & Xing, Feng & Liao, Wenyu & Wen, Haibo, 2017. "Development of structural-functional integrated energy storage concrete with innovative macro-encapsulated PCM by hollow steel ball," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 107-118.
    17. Yiu Chan & Thomas Hoke & Kevin Meredith & Xi Chen, 2025. "Annual Simulation of Phase Change Materials for Enhanced Energy Efficiency and Thermal Performance of Buildings in Southern California," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-21, February.
    18. Ait Laasri, Imad & Es-sakali, Niima & Charai, Mouatassim & Mghazli, Mohamed Oualid & Outzourhit, Abdelkader, 2024. "Recent progress, limitations, and future directions of macro-encapsulated phase change materials for building applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    19. Han, Lipeng & Xie, Shaolei & Liu, Shang & Sun, Jinhe & Jia, Yongzhong & Jing, Yan, 2017. "Effects of sodium chloride on the thermal behavior of oxalic acid dihydrate for thermal energy storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 762-767.
    20. Kenzhekhanov, Sultan & Memon, Shazim Ali & Adilkhanova, Indira, 2020. "Quantitative evaluation of thermal performance and energy saving potential of the building integrated with PCM in a subarctic climate," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:20:p:5212-:d:1502606. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.