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Application of PCMs to Improve Energy Efficiency in Residential Buildings

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Proceedings of EECE 2020 (EECE 2020)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering ((LNCE,volume 150))

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Abstract

The present investigation addresses the issue of thermal insulation of building walls. In particular, the case of a wall subjected to Mediterranean climatic conditions, typical for the city of Genoa (Italy), is taken into account. A comparison between a polyurethane and a PCM layer with a thickness of 4 cm is proposed. The analysis is developed numerically by implementing a finite elements model of the wall in Comsol Multiphysics. The wall is subjected to real climatic conditions extracted from historical meteorological data and the thermal demand for heating and cooling is estimated. Both the polyurethane and the PCM have positive performances. In particular, polyurethane is more effective in reducing the heating demand, whereas PCM has better performances in reducing the cooling demand. A brief introduction to the life cycle analysis is also provided with the estimation of the energy pay-back for the two insulators and the results highlight better performance for the PCM, even though the pay-back periods of the two are quite similar.

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Acknowledgements

Vincenzo Bianco and Federico Scarpa acknowledge the PRIN Project “Heat Transfer and Thermal Energy Storage Enhancement by Foams and Nanoparticles”, Grant n. PRIN-2017F7KZWS, for the support in developing the present research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Thermal Energy and Environmental Conditioning, University of Genoa - DIME/TEC, Via All’Opera Pia 15/a, 16145, Genova, Italy

    Vincenzo Bianco, Annalisa Marchitto, Federico Scarpa & Luca A. Tagliafico

Authors
  1. Vincenzo Bianco
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  2. Annalisa Marchitto
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  3. Federico Scarpa
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  4. Luca A. Tagliafico
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Correspondence to Vincenzo Bianco .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

    Nikolai Vatin

  2. Faculty of Civil Engineering, Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia

    Anatolijs Borodinecs

  3. Kazakhstan Highway Research Institute, Almaty, Kazakhstan

    Bagdat Teltayev

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Bianco, V., Marchitto, A., Scarpa, F., Tagliafico, L.A. (2021). Application of PCMs to Improve Energy Efficiency in Residential Buildings. In: Vatin, N., Borodinecs, A., Teltayev, B. (eds) Proceedings of EECE 2020. EECE 2020. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 150. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72404-7_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72404-7_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-72403-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-72404-7

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