Brief
Researchers at Purdue University have developed a patent-pending process to incorporate phase change materials (PCMs) into construction materials that moderates outside temperature changes on indoor environments, leading to reduced energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, and operational costs.
Insight
Engineers at Purdue University have developed a patent-pending process that incorporates phase change materials (PCMs) into building materials using liquid immersion and a vacuum, rather than traditional methods such as microencapsulation or macroencapsulation.
PCMs convert thermal energy changes into phase changes, absorbing or releasing energy during transitions to provide heating or cooling. The material can be used in the building envelope components such as windows, roofs, doors and walls, reducing energy consumption and the associated carbon emissions.
The new process improves the viability of incorporating PCMs into building materials such as bricks, drywall and concrete panels, without compromising their strength or durability. The researchers found that the new method improved the thermal inertia of the materials by 24% and increased their compressive strength by over 22%, with just 7% of the volume of the elements filled with PCM.
Moreover, the PCM is distributed in the surface layer of the construction materials to make it more effective. The process uses only a vacuum system and could be easily automated and incorporated into the production chain of precast elements.
The researchers now plan to build a full-scale prototype to test the thermal performance of the building envelope. The innovation has been disclosed to the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization, which has applied for a patent on the intellectual property.
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