Evaluation of phase change materials for a light-weight building in Morocco: Effect of building's volume, window orientation & infiltration

Abstract

In this study, we will model a light-weight building made of phase change materials (PCMs) to analyze the impact of the building volume, window orientation, and air infiltration on the PCM performance. This is done by calculating the energy savings attained by the use of PCM across all of Morocco. We'll use the commercial Rubitherm panels with RT28HC as a phase change material in this work. Typically, the EnergyPlus simulation engine is chosen to perform the modeling. The impact of building volumes is also evaluated on the PCM activation for light-weight square buildings with different side lengths of 10 m, 9 m, 8 m, and 7 m. Also, we looked at how well the PCM performed in terms of energy savings and thermal regulation at different window orientation placements (south, north, west, and east) and various air infiltration rates (0.5, 1, 1.5, and 3 ACH). This paper's primary objective is to determine the energy savings for the PCM-enhanced building in Morocco, as well as the effect of building volume, window orientation, and infiltration on the PCM capabilities for stabilizing the indoor room temperature. The results show good indoor temperature stabilization during the summer, for the light-weight square building with a south-facing window and no air infiltration. This configuration was able to achieve a total fluctuation reduction of 1303.3 °C for the 10 m building in a semi-arid environment. Besides, a high energy savings percentage of 69.56% was achieved for the PCM-enhanced building with the south-oriented window and air infiltration of 0.5 air change per hour.