Phase Change Building Materials - innovation that regulates heat and cold

[Dover]

Might want to pass this on to your Green Builders and Architect friends:

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Lightweight construction and energy-optimized planning are the hallmarks of contemporary architecture. BASF has now combined these requirements in an established construction material: BASF’s Micronal® PCM gypsum wall boards offer architects, house builders and tradesmen for the first time a building material for lightweight construction that actively ensures pleasant room temperatures thanks to the use of phase change materials.

This is due to the high heat storage capacity of Micronal® PCM gypsum wall boards. Each square meter of gypsum wall board contains three kilograms of microencapsulated latent heat storers, which means that the 15 millimeter thick boards have the heat storage capacity of a nine centimeter thick concrete wall. In spite of this additional advantage over traditional building materials, the BASF boards do not need any extra space for the latent heat storers. They are just as easy to work with as conventional wall boards in dry construction and thus offer architectural design flexibility.

According to Mike Zott, product manager for Micronal® PCM in BASF’s Regional Business Unit Adhesive and Construction Industry Europe: “Using Micronal® PCM gypsum wall boards in new buildings or in the refurbishment of old buildings ensures pleasant room temperatures when it is hot outside – even without air conditioning. This saves costs and energy and at the same time increases the comfort of private homes or the functional value of commercial property.”

Phase-change material Micronal® PCM – high-tech in microcapsules

The principle behind Micronal® PCM: microscopically small polymer capsules containing a pure wax storage medium at their core, so-called phase-change materials, are inserted into the gypsum wall boards during production. If the room temperature exceeds the switching temperature of 23 or 26 degrees Celsius set during production, the wax inside the microcapsules melts and absorbs the excess heat.

If on the other hand it falls, the wax becomes solid and the capsules release their heat again. The temperature differences between night and day ensure the alternating sequence of melting and solidifying. In this way, Micronal® PCM helps to absorb daytime temperature peaks. “Thanks to this innovation, conventional building materials are transformed into functional construction components that make commercial sense”, says Zott.


Micronal® PCM can also be used in other construction materials such as plasterboard, textured finishes, and finishing systems and compounds. Construction materials containing BASF phase change materials are impervious to grinding, drilling and cutting....>

http://www.micronal.de/portal/basf/ien/dt.jsp?setCursor=1_290798_291098

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How it works:
http://www.micronal.de/portal/basf/ien/dt.jsp?setCursor=1_290798

[GliderGuider]

1. Mother Nature beat us to it: pine logs work much the same way.

Pine resin apparently melts at about 70 degrees F, so it gives off heat as the temperature drops below 70, and absorbs it as it rises past that point. That's one of the reasons why pine log houses are so comfortable.

[AlecBGreen]

2. interesting

thanks for posting :hi: