Cost-Effective Thermally Activated Building Systems to Support a Power Grid System With High Penetrations of As-Available Renewable Energy Resources

Lead Performer: Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Oak Ridge, TN
Partner: University of Alabama – Tuscaloosa, AL
Project Term: August 15, 2019 – August 15, 2022
Funding Type: Funding Opportunity

Project Objective

This project will demonstrate a novel thermally activated building envelope system that integrates phase-change material (PCM)-based thermal energy storage (TES) and hydronic activation into the building envelope. Specifically, a new low-cost and fire-retardant PCM packaging technology (i.e., CenoPCM) will be developed for high-volume building applications. In addition, hydronic capillary loops will be embedded into the CenoPCM building envelope as a heat transfer mechanism to make the thermal energy storage capacity of the PCM accessible to renewable energy sources (RES).

The primary objectives of this activity are to design a novel thermally activated building envelope system (TES) that integrates PCM-based TES and the hydronic activation into the building envelope unit, and to characterize performance and verify that the new system can significantly reduce the energy cost of operating buildings and manage and support RES (e.g., solar and wind) for power grid reliability, quality, resilience, and dispatchability. Major performance targets for the proposed technology include:

1. Develop novel fire-retardant PCM microcapsules suitable for building applications in the U.S. with the cost no more than $50/kWh.
2. Reduce the energy cost of operating buildings by at least 15% through integrating the new PCM-based TES with the hydronic activation and support a better building-to-grid integration with high penetrations of as-available RES.

Project Impact

This new application will ultimately reduce energy costs for building operation and support integration of RES for enhanced power grid reliability, quality, resilience, and dispatchability. In addition, the heat transfer mechanism will make the TES capacity of the PCM accessible to RES to better enable energy storage for intermittent sources of energy such as wind and solar.

Contacts

DOE Technology Manager: Sven Mumme
Lead Performer: Som Shrestha, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

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