{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T20:49:41Z","timestamp":1792788581249,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1792022400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Major Provincial-Level Project of Wenzhou Polytechnic","award":["WZY2025002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["WZY2025002"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05h1ry383","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The thermal performance of a building envelope is closely related to its energy consumption. Merging industrial by-products like fly ash (FA) and rice husk ash (RHA) with phase change material (PCM) concrete unlocks a pathway to significantly enhanced thermal insulation properties for envelopes. This study investigated the effects of two different proportions of industrial by-products (5%\u221215% RHA and 10%\u221230% FA) on PCM concrete. The test results show that, at the same dosage, RHA is superior to FA in reducing thermal conductivity, especially at an incorporation rate of 15% RHA. Adding 15% RHA and 30% FA resulted in a 2.3 \u00b0C increase in the minimum temperature of the PCM concrete. Moderate RHA and FA resulted in a more uniform pore distribution and finer pore size. With increasing RHA content, the capillary pore volume increased and the fractal dimension decreased. In comparison, a higher FA content led to a significant increase in the total pore volume, particularly in the macropore volume, accompanied by a reduction in fractal dimension. The results of the correlation analysis indicated that capillary pores have a significant impact on the thermal properties. It is shown that PCM concrete can be used to obtain available insulated concrete, which has the potential to reduce winter energy consumption.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0360241","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T17:43:52Z","timestamp":1792086232000},"page":"e0360241","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Sustainable strategies to improve indoor comfort and reduce energy consumption in winter: Integration of fly ash and rice husk ash in PCM concrete"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Mingming","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Xijing University","place":["Xi\u2019an, China"],"department":["Shaanxi Key Laboratory of safety and durability of concrete 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