Evaluation of Phase Change Materials for Cooling in a Super-Insulated Passive House

Due to factors such as rising energy costs, diminishing resources, and climate change, the demand for high performance buildings is on the rise. As a result, several new building standards have emerged including the Passive House Standard, a rigorous energy-use standard based on a super-insulated an...

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Main Author: Lauck, Jeffrey Stephen
Format: Others
Published: PDXScholar 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/1444
http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2443&context=open_access_etds
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spelling ndltd-pdx.edu-oai-pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu-open_access_etds-24432017-02-16T04:03:24Z Evaluation of Phase Change Materials for Cooling in a Super-Insulated Passive House Lauck, Jeffrey Stephen Due to factors such as rising energy costs, diminishing resources, and climate change, the demand for high performance buildings is on the rise. As a result, several new building standards have emerged including the Passive House Standard, a rigorous energy-use standard based on a super-insulated and very tightly sealed building envelope. The standard requires that that air infiltration is less than or equal to 0.6 air changes per hour at a 50 Pascal pressure difference, annual heating energy is less than or equal to 15kWh/m2, and total annual source energy is less than or equal to 120 kWh/m2. A common complaint about passive houses is that they tend to overheat. Prior research using simulation suggests that the use of Phase Change Materials (PCMs), which store heat as they melt and release heat as the freeze, can reduce the number of overheated hours and improve thermal comfort. In this study, an actual passive house duplex in Southeast Portland was thoroughly instrumented to monitor various air and surface temperatures. One unit contains 130kg of PCM while the other unit contains no PCM to serve as an experimental control. The performance of the PCM was evaluated through analysis of observed data and through additional simulation using an EnergyPlus model validated with observed data. The study found that installation of the PCM had a positive effect on thermal comfort, reducing the estimated overheated hours from about 400 to 200. 2013-10-03T07:00:00Z text application/pdf http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/1444 http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2443&context=open_access_etds Dissertations and Theses PDXScholar Dwellings -- Insulation -- Oregon -- Portland -- Case studies Dwellings -- Energy conservation -- Oregon -- Portland -- Case studies Dwellings -- Heating and ventilation -- Oregon -- Portland -- Case studies Ecological houses -- Oregon -- Portland -- Design and construction -- Case studies Construction Engineering Engineering Science and Materials Environmental Design Natural Resources and Conservation
collection NDLTD
format Others
sources NDLTD
topic Dwellings -- Insulation -- Oregon -- Portland -- Case studies
Dwellings -- Energy conservation -- Oregon -- Portland -- Case studies
Dwellings -- Heating and ventilation -- Oregon -- Portland -- Case studies
Ecological houses -- Oregon -- Portland -- Design and construction -- Case studies
Construction Engineering
Engineering Science and Materials
Environmental Design
Natural Resources and Conservation
spellingShingle Dwellings -- Insulation -- Oregon -- Portland -- Case studies
Dwellings -- Energy conservation -- Oregon -- Portland -- Case studies
Dwellings -- Heating and ventilation -- Oregon -- Portland -- Case studies
Ecological houses -- Oregon -- Portland -- Design and construction -- Case studies
Construction Engineering
Engineering Science and Materials
Environmental Design
Natural Resources and Conservation
Lauck, Jeffrey Stephen
Evaluation of Phase Change Materials for Cooling in a Super-Insulated Passive House
description Due to factors such as rising energy costs, diminishing resources, and climate change, the demand for high performance buildings is on the rise. As a result, several new building standards have emerged including the Passive House Standard, a rigorous energy-use standard based on a super-insulated and very tightly sealed building envelope. The standard requires that that air infiltration is less than or equal to 0.6 air changes per hour at a 50 Pascal pressure difference, annual heating energy is less than or equal to 15kWh/m2, and total annual source energy is less than or equal to 120 kWh/m2. A common complaint about passive houses is that they tend to overheat. Prior research using simulation suggests that the use of Phase Change Materials (PCMs), which store heat as they melt and release heat as the freeze, can reduce the number of overheated hours and improve thermal comfort. In this study, an actual passive house duplex in Southeast Portland was thoroughly instrumented to monitor various air and surface temperatures. One unit contains 130kg of PCM while the other unit contains no PCM to serve as an experimental control. The performance of the PCM was evaluated through analysis of observed data and through additional simulation using an EnergyPlus model validated with observed data. The study found that installation of the PCM had a positive effect on thermal comfort, reducing the estimated overheated hours from about 400 to 200.
author Lauck, Jeffrey Stephen
author_facet Lauck, Jeffrey Stephen
author_sort Lauck, Jeffrey Stephen
title Evaluation of Phase Change Materials for Cooling in a Super-Insulated Passive House
title_short Evaluation of Phase Change Materials for Cooling in a Super-Insulated Passive House
title_full Evaluation of Phase Change Materials for Cooling in a Super-Insulated Passive House
title_fullStr Evaluation of Phase Change Materials for Cooling in a Super-Insulated Passive House
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of Phase Change Materials for Cooling in a Super-Insulated Passive House
title_sort evaluation of phase change materials for cooling in a super-insulated passive house
publisher PDXScholar
publishDate 2013
url http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/1444
http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2443&context=open_access_etds
work_keys_str_mv AT lauckjeffreystephen evaluationofphasechangematerialsforcoolinginasuperinsulatedpassivehouse
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