Adapting to future climate change by integration of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) into the building envelope: a case study in Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical investigation on the effectiveness of phase change materials (PCMs) wall implementation as building refurbishment solution, under both historical and future climate conditions. Specifically, the paper aims at proofing the PCM capability of being an effective refurbishment strategy. The study is based on dynamic building simulations carried out by IDA ICE on a typical residential single zone house in Stockholm city (Sweden). Specifically, two key performance indices have been considered: total energy demand and indoor thermal comfort. The results of the simulations highlight that in lightweight building envelope, PCM can contribute to a reduction of cooling demand and improve the indoor thermal comfort under both historical and future climate. PCM results slight effectiveness in reducing heating loads. However, the annual energy saving resulted between -1.5% and -2.4% for the historical period and between -1.9% and -5.7% for the future one.