EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENT ON THE SELECTION OF PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS FOR BUILDING WALLBOARDS USING MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION METHODS AND BUILDING ENERGY SIMULATIONS

Abstract

One of the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development in the building sector is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. For this purpose new technologies as phase change materials (PCM) are currently being studied for its potential to improve the energy efficiency and reduce energy usage in buildings. This research aims to analyze the selection of Bio-PCMs for building wallboards and roofs by a comparison between multi-criteria decision methods (MCDM) and Building Energy Simulations (BES). Ashby approach is employed for determining figure of merits (FOM) to grade PCMs performance. Moreover, BES are performed to: (a) further contrast the MCDM ranking of PCM and (b) numerically assess the thermal behavior and estimate the energy consumption with the incorporation of the PCMs. The results found discrepancies between the MCDM and BES, demonstrating the importance that the environment variables play to appropriately assess the performance of PCM.