A case study on the application of phase-change materials in buildings.

Energy storages are required to reduce the heating and cooling loads in systems with transient load characteristics. The sun's orbit yields typical heating load peaks in the morning and cooling load peaks in the afternoon. This problem occurs in principle in any type of building, such as domestic and non-domestic, industrial, and computing centres. However, depending upon the utilisation of the building, other internal loads occur in addition. Energy storages employing the phase-change enthalpy of some material yield much larger energy densities than specific-heat-based systems. This case study is about the effect of phase-change materials on the heat and cooling load and annual energy demand for various scenarios. By means of a TRNSYS model it is possible to carry out energetic annual simulations. The results of this contribution allow giving advice for the design of new systems.