Development and testing were conducted for a prototype phase-change material (PCM) wallboard to enhance the thermal energy storage capacity of buildings with particular interest in peak load shifting. Most important, it was determined that small-scale differential scanning calorimetry can adequately predict (within 9%) the performance of PCM wallboard when installed in full-scale applications. Thus far, the PCM wallboard development work has experimentally shown that the concept is workable on a large scale and that phase-change material can be successfully integrated and distributed within a building with a significant thermal storage effect. However, to obtain the magnitude of storage required, more work is needed to identify or develop new materials with greater latent heat capacity while keeping the melting/freezing range between 72 deg F (22.2 deg C) and 79 deg F (26.1 deg C).

KEYWORDS: changing physical state, materials, thermal insulation, testing, energy storage, peak load, experiment, calorimeters, boards, buildings, prototypes, latent heat, temperature.