In-situ monitoring of energetic and hydrological performance of a semi-intensive green roof and a white roof during a heatwave event in the UK

Abstract

Due to the increasing magnitude and high frequency of urban heatwaves, recently, there has been a surge of interest in the reflective roofs and the vegetative green roofs. Along with the rising temperature, there are also more frequent droughts and rainfall which have led to wider changes in weather conditions subsequently affecting the performance of green roofs and white roofs. However, there is still a lack of research in comparing dynamic energetic and hydrological performance of green roof and white roofs during heatwave events. This paper introduces a newly constructed outdoor test rig (installed with a semi-intensive green roof and an aluminium white roof) and a few initial monitoring results. The hydrological performance monitoring results showed that, although a noticeable peak runoff reduction of the white roof was observed, more significant water retention of green roofs had been established. The energetic performance monitoring results indicated that the green roof performed better than the white roof during the heatwave event reducing solar heat gains by 76% during day time, improving U-value by 28% and reducing indoor air temperature by 2.5°C. The peak indoor air temperature reduction in the green roof space occurred during late afternoons (around 7 pm).