Investigation of the thermoelectric potential for heating, cooling and ventilation in buildings: Characterization options and applications

Researchers have spent decades exploring strategies for reducing energy consumption in buildings worldwide, proposing passive solutions and optimizing active systems. However, no breakthrough technology has been developed. The use of thermoelectricity in buildings for heating, cooling and ventilation has been proposed as an alternative solution to many systems anchored in our day-to-day. This paper seeks to classify, analyze and summarize the possibilities of the thermoelectric technology integration in buildings. The results obtained from the search were divided into two main groups: systems that are integrated in the building envelope and non-integrated systems that operate independently. Among the analyzed parameters, on the one hand the characteristics of the prototypes’ components needed for the construction were described. On the other, the thermoelectric specific parameters required for optimization under the operating scenarios’ conditions were studied. The results of most of the studies showed that even though the technology can provide the comfort conditions, still the performance of these systems is not competitive compared to conventional vapor compression systems. However, the advantages of thermoelectricity such us the non-use of refrigerants or the high durability, makes this technology an alternative solution to consider, of which interest is growing in line with recent studies.