Review on Phase Change Materials and Its Applications in Buildings: Case Study of Egypt

Abstract

Carbon Dioxide emission per capita reached 2.6 metric tons in Egypt in the year 2011 according to the World Bank and this is because our main source of energy depends on burning fossil fuel releasing more Carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and trapping more heat. Building sector is one of the greatest sectors in consuming energy hence releasing more carbon dioxide into the air. With this in mind, architects should now seek more passive solutions. In recent years the use of thermal energy storage with Phase Change Materials has become a topic with a lot of interest within the research community, it has proven to be a successful solution that stores latent heat, thermo regulating the indoor temperature and therefore decreasing the electrical energy consumption used. But still the researches held on applications of PCMs within local building materials in Egypt is not yet well studied which in turns affects its wide use and spread in the building industry. This paper will review classification, properties, advantages and disadvantages of Phase Change Materials (PCM). It will also review available local Phase Change Materials found abundantly in Egypt in order to take a step further in integrating this technology within building industry.

Keywords: Phase Change Materials, Latent Heat, Energy consumption