The integration of a PCM layer into an external building wall diminished the amplitude of the instantaneous heat flux through the wall. The types of PCM, its location in the wall and its amount, have been studied in this paper. A two-dimensional transient heat transfer model has been developed and solved numerically using the commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) package Fluent. The numerical results have been verified and validated with an experimental model. The considered model consists of usual brick with square holes used as construction materials for residential buildings in Algeria, some of these square holes are filled with PCM. The results showed that the PCM introduced in square holes can improves considerably the thermal inertia of brick and a combination of the types of m PCM, its location in the wall and its amount, is very important for improve reduction of heat gain before it reaches the indoor space.

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This study aims to improve the thermal efficiency of concrete slabs by introducing a plant material. This can contribute to the improvement of internal thermal comfort for buildings and this by lower energy consumption. For this, several experiments were carried out at the laboratory, to find the thermal properties of a new innovative building material produced by inserting ALFA (STIPA TENACISSIMA) into a concrete slab. Several mass percentages of ALFA relative to the total mass of the concrete slab (0%, 0.4%, 0.8%, 1.2% and 1.6%) were studied to see the effect of the introduced quantity of this plant on the thermal conductivity of concrete. It was concluded that the insertion of ALFA in the concrete, decreases considerably the thermal conductivity. The best results are noticed for 1.2% of ALFA, whose thermal conductivity of the concrete is reduced up to 50.61%. As a result, heat gains and losses, through wall or slab, are significantly reduced, which reduces the energy consumed by cooling and heating of homes. In addition, the degree-day method was used to calculate the costs of cooling and heating energy for 58 regions in Algeria. The lowest total energy cost is noticed in the TENES region, while the highest energy cost is noticed in the BORDJ B. MOKHTAR region.