Phase change material applications in buildings: An environmental assessment for some Spanish climate severities

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 444; pp. 16 - 25
• Main Authors: Aranda-Usón, Alfonso, Ferreira, Germán, López-Sabirón, Ana M., Mainar-Toledo, M.D., Zabalza Bribián, Ignacio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier B.V 01.02.2013; Elsevier
• Subjects: acidification; Air Conditioning; Applied sciences; Building; Buildings. Public works; climate; climate change; Climatology and bioclimatics for buildings; construction materials; Construction Materials - toxicity; emissions; energy; Environment; environmental assessment; environmental impact; Environmental impacts; Eutrophication; Exact sciences and technology; Humans; inventories; Latent heat storage (LHS); life cycle assessment; Life cycle assessment (LCA); manufacturing; Meteorological Concepts; Ozone Depletion; Particulate Matter; particulates; Phase change materials (PCMs); phase transition; Spain; tiles; toxicity; Toxicity Tests; weather; Europe; Spain; Building; Environmental impacts; Phase change materials (PCMs); Life cycle assessment (LCA); Latent heat storage (LHS); Climate; Latent heat storage; Buildings; Ecobalance; Environment impact; PCM material
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.11.012

This work proposes an environmental analysis based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. LCA was applied to determine if energy savings are large enough to balance the environmental impact caused during phase change material (PCM) manufacture and its installation on tiles. Inputs and outputs of each management stage have been defined and the inventory emissions were calculated by SIMAPRO v 7.3.2. Emissions were classified into several impact categories; climate change, human toxicity, acidification, ozone depletion, particulate matter formation and eutrophication. Three commercial PCMs, evaluated using five different Spanish weather climates, were studied to explore a wide range of conditions. The main results conclude that the use of PCM can reduce the overall energy consumption and the environmental impacts. This reduction is strongly influenced by the climate conditions and the PCM introduced. ► Environmental analysis was developed based on the life cycle assessment methodology. ► Recipe has been applied as an impact method. ► Three different PCMs have been studied and applied to five Spanish weather conditions. ► Calculation of the energy savings achieved by the use of PCMs in building.