Combining thermal energy storage with buildings – a review

Thermal Energy Storage (TES) has been a topic of research for quite some time and has proven to be a technology that can have positive effects on the energy efficiency of a building by contributing to an increased share of renewable energy and/or reduction in energy demand or peak loads for both heating and cooling. There are many TES technologies available, both commercial and emerging, and the amount of published literature on the subject is considerable. Literature discussing the combination of thermal energy storage with buildings is however lacking and it is therefore not an easy task to decide which type of TES to use in a certain building. The goal of this paper is to give a comprehensive review of a wide variety of TES technologies, with a clear focus on the combination of storage technology and building type. The results show many promising TES technologies, both for residential and commercial buildings, but also that much research still is required, especially in the fields of phase change materials and thermochemical storage.