Energy efficient building are designed to minimize heating, cooling and lighting energy loads, so that attention is now paid on the energy consumption related to inhabitants (e.g. use of appliances) and life cycle issues: fabrication of materials, construction, maintenance, dismantling and waste treatment.In order to study these aspects, both in new construction and renovation projects, thermal simulation has been linked to life cycle assessment. Such a global environmental balance of a building allows for comparison of alternatives, constituting an eco-design tool. This methodology is presented, as well as validation elements from model inter-comparison. Application of this method is illustrated by a case study: two attached passive houses built in France. The results show the contribution of different life cycle stages in the environmental impact indicators (e.g. energy demand, global warming potential, water consumption, waste production…) as well as the influence of occupants on the performance.

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A simplified PCM wallboard model is coupled to an existing design-oriented model of multi-zone buildings. Using a reference model and a basic simulation configuration, the accuracy of the resulting PCM wallboard-building thermal design tool is evaluated. A new performance indicator, called PCM utilization factor, is then proposed in order to estimate the thermal efficiency of using PCM wallboards in buildings. Using this PCM Utilization factor and a degrees-hours indicator, the ability of the PCM wallboard-building thermal design tool to evaluate the effect of PCM wallboards on heating loads and summer thermal comfort in the early design phase of a project is examined in two real case studies: a family house project and an existing office building. The user-friendliness of this design tool, and the short calculation times it leads to when performing a year-long simulation using a standard office computer, make it a well-adapted tool for sensibility studies or multi-criterion optimization for buildings that contain PCM wallboards.

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