To quantify the effect of PCM on the indoor thermal environment of sports facilities, this study combined experimental and numerical simulation methods. The experiment used a 1:10 scale model of a university gymnasium as the experimental object. Using a three-variable orthogonal design (PCM fill ratios of 10%, 20%, and 30%. Installation locations: built-in wall, spray-coated roof, and embedded floor). These fill ratios align with typical PCM dosage ranges in building envelope research, while phase change temperatures (24?C, 27?C, and 30?C) reflect optimal indoor comfort ranges for sports activities. The results showed that under high summer temperatures, for every 10% increase in PCM fill ratio, the indoor temperature fluctuation decreased by approximately 0.3?C. The PCM with a phase change temperature of 27?C had the fastest activation. Numerical simulations were conducted using COMSOL Multiphysics 6.0, using a 1:1 modelling platform. Simulation errors were kept within 5%. The results show that the 30% fill ratio solution for 27?C wall installations offers the best overall performance, with a maximum daily temperature difference of only 2.1?C in summer (a 41.7% reduction compared to the no-PCM solution), an average annual energy saving of approximately 13.8%, and a pay-back period of 3.5 years. This research provides data support for optimizing PCM application parameters in sports facilities.
Jiang et al. (2026) studied this question.