by National Research Council of Science & Technology (a) PCM wall cross section (b) temperature measurement position. Credit: Korea Institue of Science and Technology(KIST) With the summer heat becoming increasingly unbearable and prolonged due to climate change, the cooling load in the summertime has also been on the rise. Insulation is currently the primary solution for blocking heat from entering a building, but applying an additional material that delays heat penetration can suppress the indoor temperature from rising and in turn lower the cooling load of the building. A research team in Korea has developed a new material for building walls that can reduce the penetration of heat from the outside. The team directed by Dr. Sarng Woo Karng from the National Research Agenda Division of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has successfully lowered heat penetration through building walls by applying a phase change material (PCM). PCMs are materials that absorb or release heat from/to the surrounding area but do not change temperature during phase change. One of the most common types is paraffin oil, which is used to make candles. A solid PCM absorbs heat as it transitions into the liquid phase , so by […]
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