BASF - Change materials contribute to first prize in Solar
Decathlon 2007
Around 30 students from the University of Technology
in Darmstadt, Germany, led by professors Thomas Hartkopf
(renewable energies) and Manfred Hegger (architecture),
have won the one-week international “Solar Decathlon
2007” held in Washington D.C. Sponsored by the U.S.
Department of Energy, the competition awards prizes to
homes that are particularly energy efficient and
sustainable. The students integrated into their 80
square-metre house 50 square metres of BASF’s innovative
Micronal® PCM SmartBoard™ gypsum wall boards plus a
Micronal PCM SmartBoard-modified chilled ceiling
developed by Zwickau-based Ilkazell Insulation
Technology GmbH.
The Darmstadt team held their own against 19
universities from the United States, Canada and Spain.
When designing their award-winning house, the students
wanted above all to develop a home that consumed as
little energy as possible but nevertheless provided
maximum comfort. This is precisely what Micronal PCM
SmartBoard offers: the gypsum wall board contains the
phase change material Micronal PCM in the form of
microscopically small wax spheres in an acrylic polymer
shell. At a pre-defined switching temperature of 23°C,
the wax melts and absorbs excess energy from the room in
the form of heat.
In the design of the Darmstadt solar house, the phase
change materials played a key role in maintaining the
required indoor temperature at a constant level. In
order to transport the heat stored in the melted wax out
of the house, the students used a highly sophisticated
system: during the day they piped cold water at a
temperature of 16°C from a water tank through the
chilled ceiling elements made by Ilkazell, in this way
actively cooling the house. At night, they piped the
heated water onto the solar cells installed on the roof,
where part of it evaporated. The ensuing evaporative
heat loss cooled the remaining water, which was piped
back into the water tank.
Additional advantages of the BASF product: by installing
15 mm SmartBoard gypsum wall boards, the Darmstadt
designers stored as much heat in their solar home as a
90 mm concrete wall. The gypsum wall boards also
provided the architectural freedom of design necessary
for the competition.
Email:
chris.wilson@basf.com
Arundel Jones Associates Ltd
Hill Farm, Linton Hill, Maidstone, Kent ME17 4AL
Tel : 01622 745333
news@buildingdesign.co.uk
Registered in England and Wales No. 07334149
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