Abstract
The aim of this article is to fill part of the existing gap between the mathematical modeling of a green roof and its computational treatment, focusing on the mathematical analysis. We first introduce a two-dimensional mathematical model of the thermal behavior of an extensive green roof based on previous models and secondly we analyze such a system of partial differential equations. The model is based on an energy balance for buildings with vegetation cover and it is presented for general shapes of roofs. The model considers a vegetable layer and the substratum and the energy exchange between them. The unknowns of the problem are the temperature of each layer described by a coupled system of two partial differential equations of parabolic type. The equation modeling the evolution of the temperature of the substratum also considers the change of phase of water described by a maximal monotone graph. The main result of the article is the proof of the existence of solutions of the system which is given in detail by using a regularization of the maximal monotone graph. Appropriate estimates are obtained to pass to the limit in a weak formulation of the problem. The result goes one step further from modeling to validate future numerical results.
Highlights
A green roof is a roof that contains a soil and vegetation layer as its outermost surface
The shape of the green roof is defined in a two dimensional spatial domain which leads to formulate the model as a system of partial differential equations on manifolds
We have proposed and analyzed a mathematical model of the thermal behavior of the green roof
Summary
A green roof is a roof that contains a soil (growing media) and vegetation layer as its outermost surface. Green roofs are used in buildings since ancient times, they have multiple benefits, among them, the reduction of the effect of the urban heat island, the building energy savings, the storm water reduction, aesthetic effect and the acoustic benefits (see [1,2,3] and references therein for more details). Two main types of green roof exist: extensive green roof and intensive green roof. In the extensive green roofs, the depth of the growing media is less than the depth in the intensive green roofs. Small grasses, herbs and flowering herbaceous plants which do not need permanent irrigation system are the typical vegetation in an extensive green roof
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