LV-22-006 -- A Novel Process for Selecting a PCM for a Building Energy Retrofit

Retrofitting existing buildings shows promise for reducingenergy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. However,selecting the appropriate energy retrofit strategy (or strategies)requires careful planning, detailed information about abuilding’s current condition and historical energy consumptionpatterns, and evaluation of multiple retrofit options. Oneretrofit strategy, using phase-change materials (PCMs) as arelatively straightforward means of increasing the thermalmass of an existing building, continues to be of interest to buildingowners, operators, and utilities alike. Despite the seemingease of installation (e.g., PCMs can be layered on top of existingacoustical ceiling tiles rather than removing drywall to addinsulation to exterior walls), a few primary factors need to beconsidered before applying PCMs in existing buildings. Thispaper presents a novel process for selecting PCMs for buildingenergy retrofits, comprising an evaluation of both the candidatebuilding as well as the PCM. This process includes goalsetting for the energy retrofit as well as the PCM installation,evaluation of an existing building to ensure that it is a goodcandidate for PCM integration, and, finally, analyzing theenergy-savings potential of PCM integration as a retrofit strategy.This process was developed based on the results of fivecase studies conducted by the authors, including three experimentalcommercial building PCM installations as well assimulation results from two residential buildings. The authorspresent how the application of this process would havechanged the choices made by stakeholders involved in thecases studied, thereby avoiding some of the less desirableresults of those projects.