Sustainable Mortars with Incorporation of Microencapsulated Phase Change Materials CUNHA Sandra 1, a , AGUIAR José 1,b , ZALEGOWSKI Kamil 2, c , GARBACZ Andrzej 2, d , SOARES Patrícia 1,e , AZEVEDO Juliana 1,f , FERREIRA Victor 3,g and TADEU António 4,h 1 University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal 2 Warsaw University of Technology, DMBE, Armii Ludowej 16, PL 00637 Warsaw, Poland 3 University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal 4 University of Coimbra, Rua Luís Reis Santos - Pólo II da Universidade, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal a sandracunha86@gmail.com, b aguiar@civil.uminho.pt, c k.zalegowski@il.pw.edu.pl, d a.garbacz@il.pw.edu.pl, e patriciarvs3@gmail.com, f julianazevedo@live.com.pt, g victorf@ua.pt, h tadeu@dec.uc.pt Keywords: Mortar; Phase change material; Fly ash; Physical properties; Mechanical properties. Abstract. . The construction industry is responsible for high energy and raw materials consumption. Thus, it is important to minimize the high energy consumption by taking advantage of renewable energy sources and reusing industrial waste, decreasing the extraction of natural materials. The mortars with incorporation of phase change materials (PCM) have the ability to regulate the temperature inside buildings, contributing to the thermal comfort and reduction of the use of heating and cooling equipment, using only the energy supplied by the sun. The simultaneous incorporation of PCM and fly ash (FA) can reduce the energy consumption and the amount of materials landfilled. However, the addition of these materials in mortars modifies its characteristics. The main purpose of this study was the production and characterization in the fresh and hardened state of mortars with incorporation of different contents of PCM and FA. The binders studied were aerial lime, hydraulic lime, gypsum and cement. The proportion of PCM studied was 0%, 20%, 40% and 60% of the mass of the sand. The content of fly ash added to the mortars was 0%, 20%, 40% and 60% of the mass of the binder. It was possible to observe that the incorporation of PCM and fly ash in mortars caused differences in properties such as workability, microstructure, water absorption, compressive strength, flexural strength and adhesion. Introduction Every year the energy powered by the sun that reaches the entire land surface is about 10 000 times higher than the actual energy consumption per year worldwide. Thus, the need to find a way to take advantage of this natural energy source is pressing [1]. It is known that the largest part of the energy consumption in construction industry, specifically in residential sector is associated with the needs for heating and cooling. This problem is related with the excessive use of energy from nonrenewable sources, which causes serious environmental impacts. On other hand, in recent years, the production of wastes increased in the entire world. Therefore, it becomes imperative to obtain new constructive solutions that minimize the energy consumptions and reuse wastes, improving the quality of construction and contributing to the quality of the environment. The incorporation of Phase Change Materials (PCM) in mortars for the interior appears as a possible solution in an attempt to solve, or at least minimize, the massive energy consumption related with buildings. The use of this material allows the regulation of temperature inside buildings through latent heat thermal energy storage, using only solar energy as a resource. Thus, the Advanced Materials Research Vol. 1129 (2015) pp 621-628 Submitted: 2015-06-22 © (2015) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland Accepted: 2015-09-10 doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1129.621 All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of Trans Tech Publications, www.ttp.net. (ID: 193.137.92.129, C-Tac, University of MInho, Guimarães, Portugal-21/09/15,15:42:27)