João Delgado Bücher

The main benefit of the book is that it explores available methodologies for both conducting in-situ measurements and adequately exploring the results, based on a case study that illustrates the benefits and difficulties of concurrent methodologies. The case study corresponds to a set of 25 social housing dwellings where an extensive in situ measurement campaign was conducted. The dwellings are located in the same quarter of a city. Measurements included indoor temperature and relative humidity, with continuous log in different rooms of each dwelling, blower-door tests and complete outdoor conditions provided by a nearby weather station. The book includes a variety of scientific and engineering disciplines, such as building physics, probability and statistics and civil engineering. It presents a synthesis of the current state of knowledge for benefit of professional engineers and scientists.

This short book provides an update on various methods for incorporating phase changing materials (PCMs) into building structures. It discusses previous research into optimizing the integration of PCMs into surrounding walls (gypsum board and interior plaster products), trombe walls, ceramic floor tiles, concrete elements (walls and pavements), windows, concrete and brick masonry, underfloor heating, ceilings, thermal insulation and furniture an indoor appliances. Based on the phase change state, PCMs fall into three groups: solid–solid PCMs, solid–liquid PCMs and liquid–gas PCMs. Of these the solid–liquid PCMs, which include organic PCMs, inorganic PCMs and eutectics, are suitable for thermal energy storage. The process of selecting an appropriate PCM is extremely complex, but crucial for thermal energy storage. The potential PCM should have a suitable melting temperature, and the desirable heat of fusion and thermal conductivity specified by the practical application. Thus, the methods of measuring the thermal properties of PCMs are key. With suitable PCMs and the correct incorporation method, latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) can be economically efficient for heating and cooling buildings. However, several problems need to be tackled before LHTES can reliably and practically be applied.