The technology for storing thermal energy as sensible heat, latent heat, or thermochemical energy has greatly evolved in recent years, and it is expected to grow up to about 10.1 billion US dollars by 2027. A thermal energy storage (TES) system can significantly improve industrial energy efficiency and eliminate the need for additional energy supply in commercial and residential applications. This study is a first-of-its-kind specific review of the current projected performance and costs of thermal energy storage. This paper presents an overview of the main typologies of sensible heat (SH-TES), latent heat (LH-TES), and thermochemical energy (TCS) as well as their application in European countries. With regard to future challenges, the installation of TES systems in buildings is being implemented at a rate of 5%; cogeneration application with TES is attested to 10.2%; TES installation in the industry sector accounts for 5% of the final energy consumption. From the market perspective, the share of TES is expected to be dominated by SH-TES technologies due to their residential and industrial applications. With regard to the cost, the SH-TES system is typically more affordable than the LH-TES system or the TCS system because it consists of a simple tank containing the medium and the charging/discharging equipment.

Due to the Energy Performance of Building Directive 2010/31/UE (EPBD) recast, new and existing buildings have the aim to achieve the Zero Energy Buildings (ZEBs) requirements, in order to reduce the carbon emission and the energy building demand. Therefore, the building process cost is increasing, related to the applications of performant construction and efficiencies energy systems. In literature, several studies highlight the importance of innovative approaches in order to reduce the cost of the ZEB targets achievement, during the early stage design process. In this framework, Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a useful process that integrated building design since the first design stage, providing high-performance energy solutions and obtaining a single model reducing time and cost during the building design. In fact, in Italy, the regulatory obligations are progressively defined: with the Ministerial Decree 560 of 1 December 2017 (Baratono Decree), the time scale with which the obligation to use BIM will come into force has been established. The obligation started from 1 January 2019 for public tenders for an amount equal to or greater than 100 million euros, then there will be a gradual entry up to 2025 for public works contracts worth less than one million. The research proposes a new workflow that allows to performing energy analysis through the BIM and Building Energy Modeling (BEM) optimization interoperability, allowing to support the zero-energy building during the early stage design.