Numerical Investigation of Indoor Air Temperature with the Application of PCM Gypsum Board as Ceiling Panels in Buildings

High energy consumption due to population growth and comfort conditions required by building users have led to large emission of CO2 produced by electricity generation. Therefore passive cooling designs are recommended to reduce the energy consumption through active cooling systems. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of PCM integrated with gypsum board as ceiling panels in relation to building energy saving. The indoor air temperature of single space houses and the effect of PCM ceiling panels were predicted by using the explicit form of numerical method and specific heat capacity method respectively. A comparison study on a single space house which was applied with ordinary ceiling panels and PCM ceiling panels has been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of passive cooling design in reducing air temperature of the house in both instances. The results showed that the application of PCM ceiling panels could effectively reduce the energy consumption through active cooling systems.