Nathan Kegel
BEMP, LEED AP, RESET AP
IES Ltd | Vice President
Speaker
Track D: Empowering Energy Innovations
Session D2: High Performance Buildings
June 26, 2025 | 10:30 am - 11:00 am
Using PCM to Save Energy Cost and Reduce Operational Carbon
Phase change materials (PCMs) have emerged as a transformative technology in the pursuit of energy-efficient buildings, offering the potential to significantly enhance thermal performance and reduce energy consumption. This presentation explores the integration of PCMs into ceiling systems and their impact on building energy dynamics. By leveraging their ability to store and release latent heat during phase transitions, PCMs can stabilize indoor temperatures, mitigate peak cooling and heating loads, and improve overall occupant comfort.
This session will provide insights into quantifying the benefits of incorporating PCM in existing buildings with the aim of optimizing their performance. This goes beyond only putting PCM into a space or plenum; it requires the potential modification of the HVAC system capacity or controls to reap the most benefit. By using holistic building simulation practices and tools, architects, engineers, and building operators can better understand the benefit of potentially investing in PCM.
Speaker Bio
Nathan has over 20 years of design and building performance simulation experience using a variety of design and modeling tools and platforms. He has largely focused on lifecycle analysis, energy and carbon savings, and cost/benefit of building technologies. He has performed design and post-occupancy analysis on hundreds of buildings and dozens of building types all over the world. In addition, Nathan has built and led High Performance Design Teams, trained over 1,000 industry professionals on using and applying building performance simulation to the design process, and was the coach and captain of the ASHRAE Lowdown Showdown 2022 winners. He is ASHRAE BEMP certified, a LEED AP, and a RESET AP and serves as the co-chair of the Data Analysis and Reporting Working Group for MEP 2040.