The IEA actions aim at ensuring reliable, affordable and clean energy solutions for its 29 member countries and beyond. One of the mission is guided by an“energy concept”, which has the ambition to reduce by 20% in 2020 and 50% in 2050 the primary energy consumption compared to the 2008 levels. Energy demand for heating and cooling represents a large part of non-residential buildings' energy consumption around the world. Building envelope (either in residential or non-residential applications) is actually one of the most important building objects that could take effective energy designs and innovations. Storing solar and/or environmental heat/cooling energy in building components of non-residential constructions is a way to level-out daily temperature differences and to significantly cut back energy demands. A way to achieve this goal is to develop novel Phase Change Materials (PCMs) – based cementitious products, characterised by a specific/responsive porous microstructure that accommodates the PCMs and has the potential to store/release energy due to a reversible and repeatable change from a solid to a liquid phase and vice-versa.
The main objective of the project is to develop and demonstrate a novel ultra-light cementitious insulation material that includes PCMs for both active/passive energy storage in non-residential buildings. The NRG-STORAGE project will ultimately contribute to the fast growing market of building envelopes, for both retrofitting and newly built objects, by implementing the TRL levels 5 to 7 of a next generation of prefabricated insulation material, called NRG-Foam. The proposed product complies with a more than 25% improved insulation capacity, more than 10% higher energy-storage capacity, at least 10% higher water and air tightness, and less than 15% cost increase than the actual solutions.The project proposes a highly efficient and sustainable solution with excellent advantages compared to the currently applied class of insulation materials. For example, it has an improved heat storage capacity (8 times better) and reduced layer thickness (50% thinner, “skin layer”) than EPS, it is a non-flammable product, it has a very low CO2 footprint, is non-toxic, has acoustic insulation/absorption capabilities, is dimensionally stable, it doesn’t affect the indoor air quality and can easily be recycled. The proposed NRG-Foam can be produced as prefabricated panels, with minimum manufacturing and installation costs.
