Yearly analysis of peak temperature, thermal amplitude, time lag and decrement factor of a building envelope in tropical climate

Two similar building structures, one is with macrocapsules of PCM called the experimental building structure (EBS), while the other is without macrocapsules of PCM called the reference building structure (RBS) were developed using conventional construction materials. Both the structures were then monitored for one year in the outdoor tropical type of environmental conditions to evaluate the indoor thermal behavior based on indoor peak temperature, indoor thermal amplitude, time lag, and decrement factor. Additionally, the annual average peak heat flux and corresponding cost-savings in peak cooling load were also analyzed. The results depict that EBS shows a reduction in the indoor peak temperature round the year, ranging from 0.2 degrees C to 4.3 degrees C and a percentage reduction in indoor thermal amplitude ranging from -2.43% to 51.3%. The annual average time delay of 97.5 min and the annual average percentage reduction of 24.69% in the decrement factor was obtained by the EBS. The annual average peak heat flux reduction of 17.37% and corresponding yearly average cost-saving in peak cooling load of 1.47 rupees/kWh/m(2)/day was obtained in the EBS.