Research Areas

Five circular icons in a row depicting: Gears, house with hand holding a device, cube figure accentuated with points, circular figure with accentuated points, clipboard and pen.

Stor4Build has identified key areas of focus to accelerate the development, optimization, and innovative partnerships to support cost-effective thermal energy storage technologies for improving resilience of U.S. buildings.

  • Circular icon depicting two gears, one large and one small.

    Investigating optimized thermal energy storage (TES) materials to lead the deployment of TES systems in buildings.

    • Phase Change Materials (PCMs)
      • Compatibility investigation
      • Examine the compatibility of PCMs with existing heat exchanger and heat pump components
      • Address corrosion behavior and develop corrosion inhibition strategies
      • Performance improvement
      • Optimize PCM materials to meet system-level requirements
      • Reduce costs and enhance thermal energy storage capacity
    • Thermochemical Materials (TCMs)
      • Focus on optimizing materials for deployment in key areas

  • Circular icon depicting a house with a hand in front of it holding a device.

    • Optimize the operation of the TES system
    • Minimize utility costs for consumers and businesses 
    • Manage building thermal comfort
    • Balance grid supply and demand

  • Circular icon depicting a cube figure with its corners accentuated with small circles.

    TES Sizing, Benefits and Decision (TESSBeD) Tool

    • Develop an open-source modeling tool that quantifies TES performance in buildings and facilitates proper sizing of TES-equipment and associated downsizing of HVAC equipment

  • Circular icon depicting a circular object with six small circles around it.

    • Equipment TES System Development
      • Develop a new heat pump that is TES-ready and can be directly plug-and-play with a TES in the field
      • Achieve both cooling and heating by implementing one TES tank in heat pump system
      • Fabricate HP-TES prototypes and evaluate HP-TES performance via both lab test and field test
    • Envelope TES System Development
      • Develop envelope integrated TES solutions for enhanced efficiencies, demand reduction, and thermal resiliency
      • Optimize designs for easier installation and reduced costs
      • Fabricate prototypes and evaluate performance in the lab and field

  • Circular icon depicting a clipboard and pen.

    • Address the need for unified, standardized methods of testing material properties
    • Understand current codes and standards and determine needs to optimize the storage technologies and enable safe adoption in buildings

Work With Us

Stor4Build includes active participants from industry, utilities, nonprofit organizations, communities, building owners, academia, government, and other research institutions. Contact Stor4Build to join the community.