Development of thermally adaptive Engineered Cementitious Composite for passive heat storage

To provide passive heat storage in buildings, materials exhibiting a phase-change within building operating temperature can be incorporated into the envelope material. This study assesses the viability of incorporating a paraffin phase change material (PCM) into an Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) because the tensile ductility of ECC allows formation of thin panels—a favorable geometry for building façades. Inclusion of 3% PCM by mass provided a 40% increase in ECC specific heat capacity at phase change temperature while maintaining a 28 MPa compressive strength and 4% tensile strain capacity on average.