Seasonal thermal performance of a macro-encapsulated phase change material blind integrated double skin façade system: An experimental study

Double skin facade (DSF) faces problems of overheating issues in warm seasons, and low cavity temperature in cold seasons, which may reduce indoor thermal comfort and increase energy consumption in buildings. Integrating phase change material (PCM) blind in DSFs is a promising solution to improve its thermal performance. However, current research on macro-encapsulated PCM blinds lacks systematic process of system development and comprehensive experimental studies across different seasons. To overcome these limitations, a zonal method was firstly used to establish a heat transfer model for the PCM blind integrated DSF system. A prototype of the proposed macro-encapsulated PCM blinds with aluminium shell and DSF integrated system was developed. Experiments were conducted during warm season and cold season in Shanghai, China. The cavity air temperature and blind surface temperature of the integrated system were analysed and compared with aluminium alloy blind system. The results indicate that PCM blinds can significantly reduce cavity air temperature and blind surface temperature, and provided better thermal stability compared to aluminium blinds during warm seasons. In cold season, PCM blind demonstrated excellent heat sustaining ability, and can maintaining ideal cavity air temperatures, while aluminium blinds experience a significant temperature drop during the same period.