Building Material Absorbs and Releases Heat

Yes, quick-but-not-entirely-wrong posters, everything absorbs and releases heat. The only reason this is interesting is because of the "PCM" part. If you actually recall your high-school physics, as heat is absorbed by an object, its temperature rises, UNTIL it reaches a phase transition; then the temperature stays constant until the phase change is complete. You probably did this with ice and water. The temperature of a chunk of ice starts below 32, increasing linearly with time, then it stops right at 32 and stays there until all the ice was melted, when it begins increasing linearly again.

This is useful for maintaining a consistent temperature inside when the outside temperature is bouncing above and below the temperature of the phase change (say, between day-time and night-time) rather than always needing to heat when it's cold and cool when it's hot. The PCM "building material absorbs and releases heat" automatically, in theory lowering your energy bills.

The neat thing--and yes, this IS neat--is a) this material is tunable; you can set the phase transition temperature at time of manufacture and b) it doesn't turn into a liquid, but rather changes between two different solid phases, which is nice for things like, you know, walls, that you'd like to stay solid.

And you were all so excited by this idea when Wozniak was pushing it in 2007; he'd latched onto a certain species of wood whose sap underwent a phase change at 72 degrees. Build a house out of that, and it will tend to keep the inside temperature at a Woz-friendly 72 degrees.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/-0M6hnHTzpE/Building-Material-Absorbs-and-Releases-Heat

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