Techno-economic inquiry into implementation barriers in Green Roof adoption as an energy retrofit measure in temperate climates: UK Study.

Abstract

Green roof technology has been established through research and in-situ monitoring to provide good potential for stormwater retention, mitigation of urban heat island (UHI) effect, reduction of local air pollution, increase local biodiversity and most importantly, passive energy savings both for new buildings and as a retrofit option for older buildings. However, even with this existing wide range of benefits, green roof technology research and markets in terms of implementation and widescale commercial adoption is relatively non-existent in temperate climates of the world such as the UK, compared to other regions with different prevailing climatic characteristics. This research investigates the causative factors and barriers for this relatively slow rate of adoption both from technological and economic perspectives with the United Kingdom as a case study. A number of experimental papers on energy savings benefits from green roofs were compiled; and from the analysis of collated data, it was found that green roofs tend to perform better from an energy savings perspective in hotter climates of the world or during the summer season in colder climates when temperatures are higher such as seasonal heatwaves. Further research into the energy savings behaviour during winter in temperate regions is required to assert the all-season suitability of green roofs for implementation in new builds within the United Kingdom. Government legislation and incentives could potentially increase wide-scale adoption. The performance of green roofs is however found to be largely climate dependent, meaning the performance varies across different regions of the world, therefore increased local research and quantification into metrics will lead to better understanding and potential adoption of green roofs and how to best optimise their design according to the region in which they are to be installed.