Abstract: Phase change materials (PCMs) can absorb heat during melting and release heat during solidification. Thermal management is realized in the form of latent heat through phase transition. Therefore, they have attracted great interest due to the broad potential applications in many fields, such as aircraft thermal protection, industrial waste heat recovery, and temperature control clothing. Phase change materials have achieved exemplary applications in the field of building energy conservation recently, including phase change gypsum board, phase change mortar, phase change envelope and so on. The results indicated that application of this new technology could not only reduce building energy consumption effectively, but also improve comfort. Herein, the latest application technology of phase change materials is reviewed, including the effects of microencapsulation technology and heat conduction enhancement on the application of phase change materials. The research status of phase change building materials (phase change gypsum board, phase change mortar, phase change envelope) is summarized as well. Further, the problems in practical engineering application are analyzed. Regarding to the combustible and Volatile Organic Compounds(VOC) problem of phase change microcapsules with organic shell, we prepared phase change microcapsules with inorganic shell through " sol-gel” reaction at emulsion surface. The resulting microcapsules were then taken as the base materials and were applied to gypsum board, putty, paint and other application terminals, realizing the preliminary application of environment-friendly phase change building energy conservation materials. Finally, the development trend of phase change materials in the field of building energy conservation is prospected.