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Integrating phase change material (PCM) into building envelopes significantly reduces building energy consumption and improves indoor environment. Among different integration techniques, macro-encapsulation allows for an efficient, safe and convenient way of using PCM, and its applications have been widely investigated in recent years. However, this study argues that there is a lack of a systematic analysis regarding the thermal performance of macro-encapsulated PCM, particularly for building envelope applications. Also, a number of important issues have seldom been addressed such as material selection and PCM melting processes at a component level, and optimal locations at a system level. Such a research gap remains a barrier to architects and engineers succeeding at making rational decisions during building design stages, thereby achieving the optimal building performance. This paper aims to …