Methods of producing construction elements, construction elements produced thereby, and structures produced therefrom

A process of producing a construction element, the process comprising:

• providing a pre-existing construction element that contains porosity;
• heating a PCM to a temperature at or above a melting temperature thereof to liquify the PCM and yield a liquid PCM;
• fully immersing the pre-existing construction element in the liquid PCM;
• and
• infiltrating the liquid PCM into the porosity of the pre-existing construction element while the pre-existing construction element and the liquid PCM are at a subatmospheric pressure level and at a temperature sufficient to maintain the PCM in a liquid state to yield a composite construction element in which the porosity of the pre-existing construction element is at least partially filled with the PCM, wherein the infiltration of the liquid PCM into the porosity of the pre-existing construction element is limited to surface regions of the pre-existing construction element exposed to the liquid PCM such that the PCM is concentrated in the surface regions and is not uniformly distributed within an interior of the composite construction element.