Abstract
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•The PCMs used in the building sector and their limitations were summarized.•The melting temperature of PCMs should be close to the desired temperature range.•Phase change materials should have a lower vapor pressure in the intended temperature range.•Optimization of the location is required to achieve interaction with the surrounding conditions.
Since the buildings' heating and cooling needs are always growing during the cold and warm months, respectively, the buildings' energy consumption has dramatically shot up. So, phase change materials (PCMs) have become the first for latent thermal storage applications in the building sector, but with some limitations. So, herein, an overview is conducted on PCMs' classifications and the most available and commonly used types, PCMs' disadvantages and the provided solutions for thermal properties, safety, and cost issues, the effectiveness of adding PCMs into building construction elements, PCM incorporation methods as a solution for PCMs being in the liquid state, PCMs thermo-physical properties with the provided enhancement techniques. Moreover, the selection of PCM with design considerations based on some real applications was reviewed since using the right materials with the right properties could decrease the annual energy consumption by 17.6 %. Otherwise, using the wrong materials may cause increases in energy consumption. Optimizing the location of PCMs may come up with better performance. Using PCMs on the floor or as a layer between the concrete could cause up to a 3 °C temperature differential at all times. The poor heat transfer of PCMs has been defeated by using some additives; for example, using PCMs with graphite had 12 times higher thermal conductivity.