Abstract
This article performed a comprehensive review of the different state-of-the-art of roofing technologies and roofing materials and their impact on the urban heat island (UHI) and energy consumption of buildings. The building roofs are the main sources of undesirable heat for buildings, especially in warm climates. This paper discusses the use and application of white roofing material in emerging economies. The use of white roofing material is a suggestion because of its cooling, evaporative and efficiency characteristics compared to traditional black roofing materials. Many research studies have shown that the darker roofing surfaces that are prevalent in many urban areas actually can increase temperature by 1 to 3 degrees Celsius to the environment surrounding these urban areas. Additionally, improved temperature control and heat reflection also work to reduce the energy requirements for the interior spaces of the structures that have white roofing surfaces. The white or lighter colored roofs tend to reflect a part of the solar radiation that strikes the roof’s surface. Consequently, one might believe that white roofing material would be commonplace and especially so within emerging economies. Yet, this is hardly the case at all. This paper examines the issue of white roofing materials in emerging economies from a dual perspective. The dual perspective includes the technical details of white roofing material and its impact on lowering the interior temperature of the affected structures, which consequently reduces hours of indoor thermal discomfort and use of air conditioners in indoor spaces. The other element in this study, however, involves the marketing aspect of white roofing material. This includes its adoption, acceptance and cost-benefit in emerging economies.
Highlights
Global warming occurs when CO2 and other air pollutants absorb solar radiation that has bounced off the earth’s surface resulting in an increase in the air temperature near the surface of the earth
This paper discussed in some depth the issue of white roofing materials and cool roofing technologies with a view to identifying how these technologies affect technology uptake and adoption
The technical aspects of what comprise white roofing solutions and cool roof technologies are explored in some depth
Summary
Global warming occurs when CO2 and other air pollutants absorb solar radiation that has bounced off the earth’s surface resulting in an increase in the air temperature near the surface of the earth. As provided in [6,16,17] for cool roof applications, dust and dirt accumulations on the reflective materials or coatings installed on the external surfaces of roofs can decrease the short-wave solar reflectivity of these surfaces This results in increasing the solar heat gains. For cool roofing systems subjected to hot climates such as that in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, a simple and user-friendly design tool was recently developed [14,15] This tool can be used by building engineers and architects for determining all pairs of the insulation thickness and the corresponding solar reflectivity of the reflective roofing materials/coatings that resulted in the same levels of the energy performance as those for the black roofing systems of thicker insulation thickness. This section has introduced the concept of the different roofing systems that exist and made a difference between green/white/reflective/cool roofs, etc. and identified the advantages of these different roofing systems
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
