Simulating the Inter-Building Effect on energy consumption from embedding phase change materials in building envelopes

The built environment contributes significantly to rapidly growing world energy consumption. Along with urbanization, buildings continue to escalate this trend owing to their tighter spatial interrelationships and the influence of their surrounding micro-environment. The concept of the Inter-Building Effect (IBE) was introduced to understand complex mutual impacts within spatially-proximal buildings. Recent research has revealed that inter-building reflection or shading can have nuanced effects on a month-by-month basis depending on the climatological context. The application of phase change materials (PCMs) has begun to be examined by researchers due to its ability to store and release heat within a certain temperature range. In this paper, we sought to explore and understand if PCM-embedded building envelopes could potentially mitigate negative thermal-energy impacts within spatially proximal buildings. Building upon previous IBE research and simulation models, we conducted several building network simulations with different PCM settings in different climatological contexts. The results showed considerable improvements (up to 17%) of annual HVAC energy consumption when PCM-embedded building envelopes were used in the control building. The findings expand and deepen our understanding of the IBE, and may help minimize negative mutual influences across buildings that lead to increases in energy consumption in urban environments.