Renewable Energy 168 (2021) 865e877

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Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Parametric analysis and optimisation of energy efficiency of a

lightweight building integrated with different configurations and
types of PCM
Ehsan Mohseni *, Waiching Tang
School of Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study evaluates the efficiency of phase change materials (PCMs) in improvements in thermal per-
Received 30 July 2020 formance and thermal comfort of a residential building. The heat transfer of concrete containing PCM,
Received in revised form which has been experimentally examined, was numerically modeled and validated in this study. PCMs
25 November 2020
with melting temperatures ranging from 19 to 29
C and thicknesses of 5 and 10 mm were applied in
Accepted 27 December 2020
different building elements. After finding the optimum PCM with respect to the energy analysis, the
Available online 31 December 2020
impacts of the meteorological parameters and cooling and heating loads were evaluated. The experi-
mental results were in a good agreement with the EnergyPlus PCM module in the numerical model. The
Keywords:
Building thermal simulation
results indicated that models integrated with PCM are able to improve the indoor comfort and to reduce
Economic analysis the heating and cooling loads and temperature fluctuations. The PCM with a melting temperature of 21


Energy analysis C and thickness of 10 mm positioned in the roof and wall showed the best performance in the energy
Energy saving consumption and transfering the loads away from the peak demand times. The environmental analysis
Phase change materials indicated that the total CO2 emission reduction would be about 264 tone when PCM with 10 mm thick is
Thermal performance applied to a building with a life span of 50 years. The shortest payback period for building using PCM-
concrete was 16.6 years.
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction storage (TES) systems are considered as one of the innovative tech-
nologies and effective methods of improving the thermal mass of
The building and construction industry is a prime consumer of building, leading to reduced peak demand and improved thermal
the world’s fossil energy resources: it accounts for nearly 40% of total comfort [6,7]. Dynamic thermal masses, such as phase change ma-
energy consumption annually, of which more than 27% is related to terials (PCMs) with high storage density per unit mass, can be used to
residential energy consumption [1]. In addition, the building sector is improve the thermal mass of building envelopes, even with less
a major source of carbon emissions in the world [2,3]. The highest structural mass attached [8,9]. TES is mainly dependent on the heat
proportion of energy consumed in a residential building is on space capacity of its latent heat, and the temperature changes in these
heating and cooling, which accounts for more than 38% with the materials are very small and, in some cases, temperature remained
increased demand for thermal comfort in buildings [4]. constant during the energy storage process [10,11]. During the phase
According to a report released by the Australian Government [5] change, when solid melts into liquid, its temperature remains con-
entitled “Energy use in the Australian residential sector 1986e2020”, stant as the heat energy is stored as potential energy.
the energy demand related to the heating and cooling is predicted to The application of PCMs in the buildings has been studied exten-
increase and the electricity is increasingly becoming the most used sively since the 1980s [12e16]. These materials can be used in
source of energy. Summer and winter are the seasons with peak buildings and in separate components for heating and cooling ap-
electricity demand. By shifting the energy consumption away from plications, including sun wall shutters, gypsum boards, floor heating
peak demand times, this problem can be alleviated. Thermal energy systems, ceiling boards or Trombe walls [17e19]. PCM can be incor-
porated in concrete by different means [20e22], however, the factors
such as PCM thickness and surface area, local weather and position of
* Corresponding author. PCM in buildings play crucial roles in TES performance [23]. Many
E-mail address: [email protected] (E. Mohseni). studies about the effects of PCM on concrete and mortar have been

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2020.12.112
0960-1481/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
E. Mohseni and W. Tang Renewable Energy 168 (2021) 865e877

carried experimentally, whereas the thermal performance and energy a numerical modeling on heat transfer of building using PCM. The
saving of building elements incorporating PCMs have been evaluated thermal-energy performance of a typical Australian home was
through simulation analyses [24]. The energy efficiency of buildings simulated by means of EnergyPlus. The algorithm used in Ener-
located in eight different hot cities has been recently simulated [25]. gyPlus to simulate the buildings with and without PCM was vali-
About 18%e34% of reductions were reported in energy consumption dated against the experimental data from previous studies
in buildings with appropriate PCM, compared to those without PCM. It conducted by the same authors [28,29]. Local materials were
was also suggested that the reduction of thickness and increase of introduced in the simulation, and the energy efficiency and thermal
surface area of PCM layer can improve the energy efficiency of performance of the simulated buildings with and without PCM
buildings. In another study, Alam et al. [23] simulated the energy were evaluated. In particular, the influence of thickness and
saving of houses with PCM located in eight different major cities in melting temperature of PCMs on energy consumption in both
Australia by means of EnergyPlus. Their results show that 17%e23% of cooling and heating seasons were studied, and the effect of the
energy could be saved by the inclusion of PCM in buildings. Cui et al. inclusion of PCM in different elements (i.e. in the roof, wall and
[26] used room models to simulate the energy performance of PCM both the roof and wall) on the reduction of heating and cooling
buildings in different cities in China. It was found that application of loads in different seasons was predicted. Besides, the economic and
PCM is feasible with a payback period of 14 years. environmental impacts of concrete containing PCM on building
Over the years, researchers have carried out many simulation located in Newcastle, Australia were studied. The economic analysis
studies on energy efficiency of building with pre-fabricated PCMs of the PCM concrete was calculated with respect to the time-of-use
such as BioPCM™ [25,27]. However, there are still research gaps electricity cost and the real PCM products to provide guidelines for
which need to be addressed. Though many simulation studies have PCM concrete applications in New South Wales (NSW).
been carried out, there is a lack of comprehensive simulation
research that evaluates and analyses the combination effect of
2. Simulation methodology
melting temperature, thickness and different positions of PCM in
building elements on thermal performance. Moreover, the
2.1. Building description
mentioned factors have not been considered thoroughly from
environment and economic points of view. Noteworthy to mention
The parametric analysis was performed in a case study using
that the rate of reduction in energy consumption should be
DesignBuilder software. This software is known as a perfect
considered together with the cost since the higher consumption of
graphical user interface for EnergyPlus [30]. A typical Australian
PCM will result in higher materials costs. In most of previous
home with a residential air-conditioner was simulated, as shown in
studies, the numerical models were validated using data from other
Fig. 1. The floor area of the model is 6  5 m and the height is 2.5 m.
studies elsewhere which may have error because of different ma-
There are two identical 2  1 m2 windows in the southern part of
terials, different environmental and meteorological conditions, etc.
the model and one 2  1 m2 window in the northern part of the
Although the effect of PCM-concrete on annual energy demand of
model. In addition, a pitched roof was included in the model.
buildings has been investigated, the effect of the sensitivity of
Table 1 reports the specifications of materials used in the walls and
cooling and heating loads on PCM performance has not been clearly
roof. Fig. 2 depicts the details of the elements used in the walls. The
addressed. According to the literature, few studies have attempted
simulation studies were based on the positions of PCM in three
to mitigate the heating and cooling loads simultaneously. This is
different modes. In the first and second modes, the PCM was
very important because building with PCM may have a desirable
applied in the roof and walls, respectively. In the third mode, the
performance during heating period, yet may have an undesirable or
PCM was applied on the roof-walls.
negative result during cooling season. Finding the optimal PCM
The CondFD algorithm, which has been validated in previous
type and configuration for buildings that can lower the heating and
studies, was used in this study. This algorithm uses a finite-
cooling loads for different climates and consequently improve en-
difference scheme associated with the enthalpy-temperature
ergy efficiency of buildings are not well addressed.
function to consider the phase shift energy. Equations (1)e(3)
Therefore, this study aims to address these gaps by carrying out
show how each PCM node is calculated and considered in this

Fig. 1. Model of residential house.

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E. Mohseni and W. Tang Renewable Energy 168 (2021) 865e877

Table 1
Thermo-physical properties of building materials.

Building materials Thickness (m) Conductivity (W/mK) Density (kg/m3) Specific heat (J/kgK)

Lightweight concrete 0.09e0.1 0.52 1400 900

Gypsum board 0.013 0.3 1000 1160
EPS 0.06 0.04 20 1400
Brickwork outer 0.1 0.61 1690 878
Roof insulation 0.045 0.044 12 883
Roof tiles 0.02 1.42 2400 880
PCM 0.01 0.2 850 1800

Fig. 2. Details of wall composition.

software [31]. For the PCM algorithm, the CondFD method is h ¼ enthalpy (kJ/kg).
coupled with an enthalpy-temperature function as indicated in
Equation (4). The specific heat capacity of PCM is also expressed by With superscripts and subscripts:
Equation (5) in each iteration. Moreover, the 2-min time step was
used in the simulation for a more detailed analysis. The suggestions i ¼ node being modeled
recommended by Tabares-Velasco et al. [32,33] were considered iþ1 ¼ adjacent node to interior of construction
during the simulation of buildings containing PCM. ie1 ¼ adjacent node to exterior of construction

rCP DxðTi;new  Ti;old Þ kint ðTiþ1;new  Ti;new Þ EnergyPlus uses CondFD approach in which each surface layer is
¼
Dt Dx divided into a number of nodal points based on the node spacing of
kext ðTi1;new  Ti;new Þ each layer (Dx) which is determined by the following equation:
þ (1) Dx ¼ √(CaDt)¦ (6).Where.
Dx

Tiþ1;new  Ti;new C: Space discretization constant

kint ¼ (2) a: Thermal diffusivity of material
Dx
Dt: Time step
Ti1;new  Ti;new
kext ¼ (3)
Dx
2.2. Numerical model
h ¼ h(T) (4)
The PCM specifications used in this simulation were the same as
hi;new  hi;old those employed in the laboratory study. PureTemp PCMs with a
CP ¼ (5)
Ti;new  Ti;old melting temperature between 19
C and 29
C were used to
Where: determine the effect of melting temperature on the rate of the
energy consumption. The latent heat of the PCMs was found to be
r ¼ density (kg/m3) 200 J/g. The enthalpy-temperature curve of different PCMs were
Cp ¼ specific heat capacity (kJ/kg K) obtained by shifting them based on their melting temperatures, as
Dx ¼ layer thickness (m) shown in Fig. 3. These values were regarded as input data to the
T ¼ node temperature (K) software. Other inputs were the number of individuals and meta-
k ¼ thermal conductivity (kW/m K) bolic rate of the model. In the study, three individuals with a low
Dt ¼ calculation time step (s) activity level and a fixed metabolic rate of 140 W were considered
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E. Mohseni and W. Tang Renewable Energy 168 (2021) 865e877

Fig. 3. Enthalpy-temperature graphs for PCMs with different melting temperature.

Fig. 4. Newcastle annual temperature variation.

for each individual. Based on the experimental studies [28,29] and
economic considerations, the thickness of PCM corresponds to the
concrete. Thus, EnergyPlus PCM module can be used to simulate
studied concrete samples and considered to be 5 mm and 10 mm.
and analyse the thermal performance of studied house and benefits
The ideal air loads system module provided by EnergyPlus
of PCM integration.
software was considered for modeling the building’s air condi-
tioning system. This module is an ideal system that combines a
certain amount of outdoor air with the entirely consumed air. The 4. Results and discussion
rate of supplied air flow varies between zero to maximum to supply
cooling or heating air to the zone with enough extent to satisfy the 4.1. Optimisation of position, thickness and melting temperature of
zone heating and cooling load. The ventilation rate of one-time air PCM
change per hour and the heating and cooling temperature set
points between 19
C and 27
C were set. These settings kept the In order to optimise the thermal function of PCM in building, its
building’s interior temperature between 19
C and 27
C. The air ideal position of application should be carefully considered as the
conditioning system was set to operate during the periods of effectiveness of PCM may vary under different climates and con-
00:00e8:00 and 16:00e24:00 when the building occupants attend, ditions. In other words, the appropriate melting temperature of
which was in accordance to the guidelines proposed by Saffari et al. PCM should be selected with respect to the climatic conditions, as
[34]. well as the position of PCM in different layers of the component
The weather data for the city of Newcastle, located in the state of [35]. In this study, the PCMs with different melting temperatures in
NSW, was used for the simulation. These meteorological data the range between 17
C and 29
C placed at three different posi-
contain information about solar radiation and the information tions including the roof, wall and roof-wall of models were studied
necessary for the calculation of the moisture content. Newcastle is a and analysed during the cooling and heating times for a period of
city with a four-season climate so that the hottest and coldest one year, and the thickness of PCM was considered to be 5 mm and
months of the year are January and July, respectively. The average 10 mm. Fig. 8 demonstrates the cooling load (Fig. 8-a) and the
daily temperature in January is about 27
C, which rarely drops heating load (Fig. 8-b) of the building with PCM having different
below 22
C or goes over 33
C. On the other hand, the average melting temperatures and thicknesses.
nighttime temperature in July is about 8
C and rarely drops below Fig. 8-a indicates that the best energy-saving efficiency in
4
C or goes above 12
C. The annual temperature variation of cooling load is related to the model when PCM with a thickness of
Newcastle is shown in Fig. 4, while the flowchart of methodology is 5 mm and a melting temperature 25
C is applied. However, when
illustrated in Fig. 5. the thickness of PCM reaches to 10 mm, the PCM with a melting
temperature of 23
C will have a better performance than those
with other temperatures. Moreover, as the PCM thickness was set at
3. Validation 5 mm, the amount of the energy consumed when the PCM was
positioned in both the roof and the wall demonstrated a lower
The algorithm used in EnergyPlus to simulate the buildings with value. In contrast, more energy consumed when PCM positioning
and without PCM was verified against the experimental data from on the roof and then the wall. It should be noted that when the PCM
previous study conducted by same authors [28]. In order to see the thickness was 10 mm, the amount of the energy consumed while
effect of PCM on temperature change of a single room, concrete the PCM was positioned on both the roof and the wall showed the
panel containing PCM equivalent to a PCM layer with a thickness of lowest value. It is clear that when the thickness increased from
10 mm, and with melting temperature of 23
C and thermal con- 5 mm to 10 mm, the energy consumption decreased sharply. The
ductivity of 0.2 W/mK was placed in the ceiling of the experimental cooling energy consumption reduced by 23% when the PCM with a
model and the temperature was recorded. Fig. 6 shows the room melting temperature of 23
C was positioned in the roof by
model used in this study for verification. Then a room with the increasing the PCM thickness from 5 mm to 10 mm.
same geometry and operating conditions were simulated same as Fig. 8-b shows that the heating load is much higher than the
the experimental test condition in the software. Fig. 7 compares the cooling load in the building as expected. When the PCM thickness
room temperature achieved by experiments and from simulated was 5 mm, PCM with a melting temperature of 21
C showed the
models. The results were in a good agreement with the experi- best energy-saving efficiency. When the PCM thickness reached to
mental data with the average deviation percentage of about 7% 10 mm, the PCM with a melting temperature of 21
C would
between the experimental results and numerical model which can perform better than other melting temperatures. In fact, the
be due to the difference in incorporation methods of PCM in amount of the energy consumption reduced significantly when the
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E. Mohseni and W. Tang Renewable Energy 168 (2021) 865e877

Fig. 5. Flowchart of methodology.

PCM of thickness either 5 mm or 10 mm was positioned in both the Fig. 9 demonstrates the annual energy consumption of building
roof-wall. More energy consumed in the cases when PCM was when the PCMs with different thicknesses and melting tempera-
applied in the wall or roof. Previous study [35] showed that PCM tures were located at different positions. It can be seen that the PCM
with a melting temperature of 21
C is able to store heat to reduce with a melting temperature of 21
C performed the best in both
possible heating load effectively, especially during the nighttime. thicknesses. It is also clear that positioning the PCM in the roof-wall
The model containing 5 mm PCM positioned in the roof had the resulted in the lowest energy demand.
highest heating load among all models. Similar to the cooling load, It should be noted that greater thickness and higher consump-
the amount of the heating energy consumption decreased as the tion of PCM will result in higher materials costs. Therefore, the rate
thickness increased from 5 mm to 10 mm. When the PCM with a of reduction in consumption should be considered together with
melting temperature of 21
C was positioned in the roof-wall, the the cost. The potential benefits related to energy and cost saving are
amount of the heating energy consumption reduced by 12% when discussed in Section 4.3.
the thickness increased from 5 mm to 10 mm. The increase of PCM According to the results, the optimal PCM thickness was 10 mm
thickness reduced energy demand by 19% when PCM with the same and the model containing PCM with a melting temperature of 21
C
melting point was positioned in the wall. The reduction in energy would be the most suitable for saving energy in summer and
demand was mainly due to the higher mass volume of PCM. The winter.
results are in agreement with the findings reported by Lei et al. [36], In order to investigate the performance and efficiency of PCM in
which reported that increasing the PCM thickness could result in different seasons, the amounts of energy saving in different models
higher energy saving. containing PCM with different thicknesses and positions were

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E. Mohseni and W. Tang Renewable Energy 168 (2021) 865e877

Fig. 6. Room model in the experiments used for validation.

estimated and compared with the control model without PCM. seasons, which in terms of quantity, winter energy consumption is
Table 2 presents the results where the reduction in energy con- higher than summer. Since the maximum annual energy con-
sumption is expressed as percentage. In summer, the model con- sumption occurs in winter, the use of PCM with a melting tem-
taining PCM positioned in the roof-wall with a thickness of 10 mm perature of 21
C would generally give a better performance.
and a melting temperature of 25
C showed the maximum decrease
(64.5%) in energy consumption, while the best performance in
winter energy consumption was demonstrated in the model con- 4.2. Comfort performance analysis
taining PCM with a melting temperature of 21
C, as the energy
consumption reduced by 31.8%. The results in the previous section showed that PCM with a
In order to optimise the buildings energy efficiency, model melting temperature of 21
C achieved the most optimum annual
containing PCM with the best energy saving efficiency in the energy consumption. In order to analyse the daily energy con-
cooling and heating loads was selected. By comparing the optimum sumption in both summer and winter, two buildings (one without
temperature in both seasons, it can be suggested that the optimal PCM and one containing PCM with the melting temperature of
melting temperature is seasonal, which is in line with the findings 21
C) were modeled on the warmest and coldest days of the year.
reported by Wang et al. [37] and Soares et al. [38]. Kenzhekhanov January 25 and July 30 were the warmest and coldest days of the
et al. also found that the performance of buildings with PCM varies year in Newcastle, respectively. Accordingly, December 1 (summer)
with seasons [35]. The results of energy consumption in cooling and June 20 (winter) were also modeled as the days with the lowest
and heating loads indicate that the optimal melting temperature heat and cold intensity that could be used for the prediction of the
was close to 21
C in all situations. However, the optimum tem- effect of heat and cold on energy consumption. Figs. 11 and 12 show
perature is in the temperature range of 19
Ce25
C, which is the load during the cooling and heating hours for both buildings
within the comfortable temperature range of the human body. with and without PCM. The building without PCM as Reference
Fig. 10 compares the annual energy demand in cooling and heating room is compared with the other models for better understanding
the impact of PCM at different positions with the optimum PCM
870
E. Mohseni and W. Tang Renewable Energy 168 (2021) 865e877

containing PCM is lower than that of the reference model owing to

the higher thermal mass of the elements containing PCM compared
to the elements without PCM. Noteworthy to mention that the
reduction of energy consumption or the energy saving depends
upon many factors such as the type of building, type and amount of
PCM, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system and
schedule, and internal gains etc. [40].
Fig. 12 shows the amount of energy used by the building during
the winter. According to the figure, the winter energy demand for
warming is higher than the summer energy demand for cooling.
The heating load on June 20 is shown in Fig. 12-a. Although the
outdoor temperature is less than 21
C, the PCM saves energy in the
latent heat by absorbing heat from the sun during the daytime and
releasing it at night so that the room temperature becomes closer to
a comfortable room temperature. This will reduce the amount of
energy demand. According to Fig. 12-a, the area under the graph in
the reference room is 4626 Wh. This value reduces to 2192 Wh,
1480 Wh and 868 Wh in the building with PCM in the roof, wall and
roof-wall, respectively. These measurements reveal that the use of
PCM in a roof-wall can save up to 81% on energy consumption.
Fig. 12-b demonstrates the model performance on July 30, which is
the coldest day of the year. Although the temperature often drops
below 21
C and this causes the PCM to remain in a solid mode, less
energy is consumed in the buildings containing PCMs than the
reference building. The reason for this reduction in consumption is
that the external surface temperature of the wall or roof rises by
over 21
C during the day, which can melt part of the PCM and
retain energy [35]. Then, PCM releases the energy at night to
elevate the building temperature and reduce the energy demand
for heating. It worth mentioning that the efficiency of the model
Fig. 7. Experimental and simulated room temperature: a) without PCM and b) with containing PCM on July 30 was lower than observed on June 20
PCM. (Fig. 12). The main reason is because the ambient temperature was
much lower than the PCM melting temperature, so less melting and
freezing cycles occurred and thus less energy was stored. Fig. 13
thickness.
shows the annual energy consumed in the warmest and coldest
Fig. 11 depicts the amount of cooling load on two hot summer
days. It can be inferred that the addition of PCM, specially at both
days. Fig. 11-a demonstrates the cooling load on December 1 and
roof and wall could reduce the energy demand.
Fig. 11-b indicates the energy demand on January 25. It should be
The results indicate that models with PCM have a better per-
noted that the amount of the energy consumed is shown in the left
formance in terms of energy saving on days when the temperature
axis and the outdoor temperature during the day is indicated in the
is more moderate (not too cold or hot) and the system efficiency is
right axis. The horizontal axis also shows the hours of energy
reduced when the air is too cold or hot. Similar results have been
consumption. According to Fig. 11-a, the application of PCM in the
reported by other researchers as well [37]. According to the results,
building reduces the energy consumption. At around 2 p.m., when
it can be found that the energy saving in the PCM-included models
the temperature reaches its maximum level, the amount of energy
is higher on cold days than on hot days. Since the air temperature is
consumption in the reference building is about 350 W, which re-
moderate in Newcastle most days of the year, the PCM with a
duces to 150 W in a building with a PCM positioned in roof or wall,
temperature of 21
C can be very effective and useful.
and to about 100 W in a model containing a PCM in the roof-wall.
The reason for this energy saving is the use of PCM with a suitable
4.3. Economic and environmental analysis
melting temperature, which absorbs excessive heat and reduces
the need for more energy for indoor cooling. Therefore, the tem-
The evaluation of the feasibility of constructing buildings con-
perature of component containing PCM is lower than that without
taining PCMs must be accompanied by economic and environ-
PCM, which results in an improvement in interior comfort. It has
mental studies [37]. Therefore, the models simulated in this study
been reported that incorporation of PCM in detached houses
were analysed in terms of energy-saving, initial cost, annual
located in London contributes to the reduction of discomfort hours
benefit, cost recovery period and CO2 saving from energy sources
significantly during the summer season [39]. Fig. 11-b shows
compared to the reference building. Table 3 presents the results of
changes in the amount of the energy consumed on the warmest
the simulated models in Newcastle. The average results of the
summer day, that is, January 25. Energy saving is lower on this day.
reduction in energy consumption expressed as percentage in
The reason for this is that the temperature of the wall or roof is
Table 2 were considered as cooling and heating efficiency factors. It
higher than the PCM melting temperature for most of the day, and
is assumed that the modeling and optimisation are conventional for
the PCM is in a liquid state [37]. Furthermore, it is observed that the
residential buildings in Newcastle. Six different modes were
energy saving in the afternoon around 2e3pm is greater than
considered for this modeling, including the use of 5 mm and 10 mm
during other hours. However, the temperature range of the model
thick PCMs in the roof, wall and roof-wall. The concrete volumes of

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Fig. 8. Annual energy demand of PCM-included buildings with different melting temperatures, thicknesses and positions; a) cooling and b) heating load.

Fig. 9. Annual energy demand of PCM-included buildings with different melting temperatures, thicknesses and positions.

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E. Mohseni and W. Tang Renewable Energy 168 (2021) 865e877

Table 2
Energy performance of different models.

Position-thickness Cooling energy (kWh/m2) Heating energy (kWh/m2) Annual energy (kWh/m2)

Roof-5

Reference 6.98 31.08 38.06

PCM21 4.04 (42.12%) 25.6 (17.63%) 29.64 (22.12%)
PCM25 3.82 (45.27%) 27.3 (12.16%) 31.12 (18.23%)
Wall-5
Reference 6.98 31.08 38.06
PCM21 4.51 (35.39%) 26.7 (14.09%) 31.21 (18%)
PCM25 4.34 (37.82%) 29 (6.69%) 33.34 (12.4%)
Roof-Wall-5
Reference 6.98 31.08 38.06
PCM21 3.69 (47.13%) 24.1 (22.46%) 27.79 (26.98%)
PCM25 3.51 (49.71%) 25.8 (16.99%) 29.31 (22.99%)
Roof-10
Reference 6.98 31.08 38.06
PCM21 3.18 (54.47%) 22.9 (26.32%) 26.08 (31.48%)
PCM23 3.03 (56.66%) 23.50 (24.39%) 26.53 (30.31%)
Wall-10
Reference 6.98 31.08 38.06
PCM21 2.80 (59.83%) 21.7 (30.18%) 24.5 (35.62%)
PCM23 2.75 (60.63%) 22 (29.21%) 24.75 (34.98%)
Roof-Wall-10
Reference 6.98 31.08 38.06
PCM21 2.50 (64.14%) 21.20 (31.79%) 23.7 (37.72%)
PCM23 2.48 (64.5%) 21.80 (29.86%) 24.28 (36.21%)

during heating and cooling times can be determined. Thus, the

amount of energy saved per day is estimated by multiplying the
total efficiency by the energy saved per day.
With regard to an electricity cost of 25 cents per kWh at New-
castle, the annual cost saving can be obtained as expressed in the
“Benefits” column. Subsequently, the payback period is calculated
based on the benefits and initial cost. For better comparison, Fig. 14
represents the amount of the energy saving and annual benefit. The
results indicate that the payback period for PCM models with a
thickness of 10 mm is better than the PCM models with a thickness
of 5 mm, and a combined application of PCM in the roof and wall
had the shortest recovery period (16.6 years).
It should be noted that the energy saving was measured
assuming that PCM completely changes phase every day during the
service life, however the results in the previous sections also
showed that this is impossible, thus the efficiency of PCM for en-
ergy saving is reduced. By taking the efficiency of PCM as 70% into
consideration, the recovery periods on the Roof-10, Wall-10 and
Fig. 10. Cooling and heating energy demand of models without PCM and with PCM
Roof-Wall-10 models increase to 27, 25.4 and 23.7 years, respec-
located in different positions (PCM with melting temperature of 21
C and thickness of
10 mm).
tively. Since the residential buildings normally have a life span of
about 50e60 years, it is therefore economically feasible to use PCM
in the buildings.
In order to determine the effect of energy saving on the envi-
roof, wall and roof-wall components were calculated to be ronment, the amount of CO2 produced by fossil fuels was analysed.
30 m2  0.3 m (area  thickness), 49 m2  0.2 m, and A CO2 emission factor can be used to convert the electricity con-
79 m2  0.25 m, respectively. sumption into greenhouse gas emissions. The CO2 emission factor
For concrete with PCM of 5 mm thick, the total PCM in concrete for NSW is about 0.86 [41,42]. This means that during the pro-
would be 16 kg/m3 according to the mixture design. Obviously, this duction of 1 kW hour of electricity, 0.86 kg of CO2 is released which
value would be 32 kg/m3 for concrete with 10 mm thickness. is considered as effective CO2 emission. Besides, the amounts of CO2
Therefore, the total weight of PCM used in the building can be produced by oil, natural gas and coal were found to be 0.8, 0.5, and
obtained by multiplying the concrete volume by PCM per kg. The 1 kg/kWh, respectively [25]. The environmental benefits related to
cost per kilogram of PCM is around 10 Australian dollars. The total CO2 reduction by saving electricity and fossil fuels are reported in
cost of PCM required is calculated in the third column of the table. Table 4. The results indicate that the application of PCM with
With regard to the latent heat capacity of the PCM used, the amount 10 mm thickness decreases the amount of CO2 emitted by oil,
of energy saved per day is calculated based on the total amount of natural gas and coal to 4,917, 3073 and 6146 kg/year, respectively.
PCM. In relation to energy saving (Table 2), the building efficiency Therefore, it can be reported that the use of PCM in the buildings is

873
E. Mohseni and W. Tang Renewable Energy 168 (2021) 865e877

Fig. 11. Hourly cooling load in a) December 1 and b) January 25.

environmentally useful. It should be highlighted that the CO2 temperature of 21
C indicated the highest efficiency in reduc-
emission of PCM itself can be considered as 16 MJ/kg [43]. The tion of energy consumption.
amount of PCM used at different positions and the corresponding  Application of PCM with suitable melting temperature posi-
CO2 emissions can be seen in Table 5. From the table, it is clear that tioned in appropriate components reduced the energy con-
the highest amount of CO2 emissions is 2433.2 kg when the PCM sumption extensively over the peak time. The energy
positioned in the roof-wall of the building. However, the amount is consumption in the reference building was about 350 W in peak
considered insignificant when compared to the potential annual hour, which reduced to 150 W in a building with a PCM posi-
effective CO2 reduction of 5286 kg (see Table 4). Considering the tioned in roof or wall, and to about 100 W in a model containing
building with a life span of 50 years, the total CO2 reduction would PCM positioned in the roof-wall (with a 71% reduction). This
be about 264 tone. In other words, the carbon footprint of PCM is shows the ability of PCM to transfer the loads away from the
less than 1%, therefore, impacts would be negligible. peak demand times.
 Regarding the intensity of heating and cooling loads, the results
indicated that models with PCM have a better performance in
5. Conclusion terms of energy saving on days when the temperature is more
moderate (not too cold or hot) and the system efficiency is
 The results achieved from experiments were in a good agree- reduced when the air is too cold or hot. It was also reported that
ment with the EnergyPlus PCM module in the numerical model the energy saving in the PCM-included models is higher on cold
with the average deviation percentage of around 7% between days than on hot days.
the experimental results and numerical model. The results  The results indicated that the payback period for PCM models
proved that EnergyPlus PCM module could be strongly used to with a thickness of 10 mm is better than the PCM models with a
simulate and analyse the thermal performance of studied house thickness of 5 mm, and a combined application of PCM in the
and benefits of PCM integration. roof and wall had the shortest recovery period (16.6 years).
 Increasing the thickness of PCM from 5 mm to 10 mm was very  The results indicated that the use of PCM in the buildings is
effective in reduction of energy consumption. The cooling and environmentally useful. The amount of CO2 emitted by oil,
heating energy consumptions reduced by 23% and 12% respec- natural gas and coal reduced by 4,917, 3073 and 6146 kg/year,
tively, when the thickness of PCM increased. respectively by the application of PCM.
 The results indicated that the optimal melting temperature is
seasonal. In summer, PCM with melting temperature of 25
C
had the best performance, while in winter PCM with melting
874
 Fig. 12. Hourly heating load in a) June 20 and b) July 30.

Fig. 13. Energy consumed in different models for; heating load at the coldest day (July
30), and cooling load at the hottest day (January 25) of the year.
Fig. 14. Annual energy saving and benefits by using PCM concrete.

Table 3
Economic calculation of different models.

Position Cooling efficiency (%) Heating efficiency (%) Total PCM price ($) Energy saving (kWh/day) Benefits ($/year) Payback period (years)

Roof-5 42.12 17.63 1440 2.39 53.78 26.78

Wall-5 35.39 14.09 1568 2.16 48.49 32.34
Roof-Wall-5 47.13 22.46 3160 6.11 137.44 22.99
Roof-10 54.47 26.32 2880 6.46 145.42 19.80
Wall-10 59.83 30.18 3136 7.84 176.42 17.78
Roof-Wall-10 64.14 31.79 6320 16.84 378.92 16.68

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E. Mohseni and W. Tang Renewable Energy 168 (2021) 865e877

Table 4
Environmental analysis.

Position Energy saving (kWh) Effective CO2 (kg) CO2 saving Oil (kg) CO2 saving Natural gas (kg) CO2 saving Coal (kg)

Roof-5 430 750 698 436 872

Wall-5 387 676 629 393 786
Roof-Wall-5 1099 1917 1783 1114 2229
Roof-10 1163 2028 1887 1179 2359
Wall-10 1411 2461 2289 1430 2861
Roof-Wall-10 3031 5286 4917 3073 6146

Table 5
Carbon footprint of PCM at different positions of the building.

Position Weight of PCM (kg) Embodied Energy of PCM (kg/kg)a Total CO2 emission (kg)

Roof-5 144 3.85 554.4

Wall-5 156.8 3.85 603.68
Roof-Wall-5 316 3.85 1216.6
Roof-10 288 3.85 1108.8
Wall-10 313.6 3.85 1207.3
Roof-Wall-10 632 3.85 2433.2
a
The unit of PCM embodied energy has been converted from MJ/kg in Ref. [41], to kg/kg.

CRediT authorship contribution statement 101018.

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