The project is a scheme which integrates technical, sustainability and environment aspects – hence being in line with the principles of the European cooperation on matters related to functional materials development. En-ActivETICS is a collaborative, multidisciplinary research project involving four European partners: Lodz University of Technology and Sto company from Poland, Polymer Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Tallinn University of Technology from Estonia.

 

The project is founded within the M-ERA.NET Call 2018 in thematic area of functional materials. The project started in October 2019 and the total duration is 3 years.

This project is supported in a framework of M-ERA.NET by:

ETAG (grant No. 3-4/MOBERA1719029),

NCBiR (grant No. M-ERA.NET2/2018/2/2019)

SAS (grant No. M-ERA.NET 2 /2018 /786/En-ActivETICS)

and additionally:

by Estonian Centre of Excellence ZEBE (grant TK146),

by the personal research funding (grant PRG483).

 

The main objective of the project is development of the Energy Activated External Thermal Insulation Composite System, a novel multifunctional building component based on the combination of existing, advanced energy technologies: phase change materials and flexible photovoltaics. The project identifies, tests and implements innovative ways to promote energy efficiency in buildings and fosters technologies that are ecologically friendly, economically sensible and feasible for implementation, encouraging more sustainable energy use.

Application of flexible photovoltaic (FPV) as an external finishing of the ETICS is a novel approach that will allow for on-site energy production but also is an answer for a need of modern design, aesthetic facades. Furthermore, such a solution will transform the building-integrated PV (BIPV) market from a niche activity to a potential mass market in the future. The proposed system is intended to be a more cost-effective compared with traditional BIPV facades. The project will develop a new external wall product that is characterised by easy application and flexibility. Moreover, by the application of PCM, the proposed solution is a new step in the development of thermal insulation material technology allowing to achieve a product classified to the group of intelligent materials.

Considering an innovative character of the new component the research investigation will provide new knowledge concerning the following aspects:

– the computational methods of heat and mass transfer,

– the design procedure for industrial application,

– the energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness,

– the physical behaviour under real exploitation conditions.

The result of the project will be comprehensively tested and technically documented the Energy Activated External Thermal Insulation Composite System, revealing the capability to adjust its physical properties for better building performance.