Measurement of four-pane building window filled with a PCM

The transparent building element filled with Phase change materials (PCMs) represent an innovative solution that can achieve thermal comfort in buildings lowering the cooling and heating demand. There are many different PCMs which are used in the building element. Salt hydrates can absorb a large amount of energy and have properties similar to water. Nevertheless, these materials have a tendency to supercool (supercooling effect) and to incongruent melt. This paper reports the results of the measurement specific four-pane window filled with a PMCs. Thermal properties of the window were tested in the climate simulator where the climatic conditions were dynamically controlled. The measurement confirmed high thermal inertia of the window and also reducing heat transfer through the window. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2017