The Investigation of Green Roof and White Roof Cooling Potential on Single Storey Residential Building in the Malaysian Climate

The phenomenon of global warming or climate change has led to many environmental issues including higher atmospheric temperatures, intense precipitation, increased greenhouse gaseous emissions and increased indoor discomfort. Studies have shown that bringing nature to the roof such as constructing green roof and implementing high-reflective roof may give positive impact in mitigating the effects of global warming and in increasing thermal comfort sensation inside buildings. However, no study has been conducted to compare both types of passive roof treatments in Malaysia in order to increase thermal comfort in buildings. Therefore, this study is conducted to investigate the effect of green roof and white painted roof as passive roof treatment in improving indoor comfort of Malaysian homes. This study uses an experimental approach in which the measurements of temperatures are conducted on the case study building. The measurements of outdoor and indoor environments were conducted on the flat roof with two different types of roof treatment that are green roof and white roof. The measurement of existing black bare roof was also conducted to act as a control for this study.




References:
[1] O. M. Maslin (2004), Global Warming: A Very Short Introduction,
Oxford University Press, ISBN: 0-19-284097-5 2004, pp.4.
[2] Manabe, S., & Stouffer, R. J. (1979). A CO2-climate sensitivity study
with a mathematical model of the global climate. Nature, 282(5738),
491-493.
[3] Schmid, R. E. (2007). Carbon Dioxide in Atmosphere Increasing.
Retrieved 23 October 2007, from http://news.yahoo.com
[4] P.F.Smith (2005), Architecture in a Climate of Change: A Guide to
Sustainable Design, 2nd edition, Architectural Press. ISBN:
0750665440 2005, pp. 1-5.
[5] J.Houghton (2004), Global Warming: The Complete Briefing, Third
Edition, Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 0-521-81762-5 2004, pp.
9.
[6] Satish, K. (2008) Recognising the Impact of Climate Change.
Impak,Putrajaya, Department of Environment Malaysia, Issue 3.
[7] Aebischer, B., Jakob, M., & Catenazzi, G. (2007). Impact of climate
change on thermal comfort, heating and cooling energy demand in
Europe. Paper presented at the ECEEE 2007 Summer Study ÔÇó Saving
Energy - JUST DO IT!
[8] Werthmann, C. (2007). Green Roof - A Case Study: Michael Van
Valkenburgh Associates' Design for the Headquaters of the American
Society of Landscape Architects (1st ed.). New York: Princeton
Architectural Press, pp.18.
[9] Snodgrass, E. C., & McIntyre, L. (2010). The Green Roof Manual: A
Professional Guide to Design, Installation, and Maintenance. Portland,
Oregon: Timber Press, pp. 21
[10] Anon. (2007). Introduction to Green Roofs, Eco-roofs of Roof Gardens
[Electronic Version]. Retrieved 17 January 2007, from
http://www.livingroofs.org/livingpages/greenroofintro.html
[11] N. Dunnett & N.Kingsbury, Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls.
Timber Press. ISBN:0-88192-640-X 2004, pp. 2-4.
[12] E. Eomorfopoulou & D. Aravantinos, "The Contribution of a Planted
Roof to the Thermal Protection of Buildings in Greece," Energy and
Buildings, Vol. 27, Feb. 1998, pp. 29-36, doi:10.1016/S0378-
7788(97)00023-6
[13] A.,Niachou et al., "Analysis of the Green roof Thermal Properties and
Investigation of Its Energy Performance," Energy and Buildings, Vol.
33, Sep. 2001, pp.719-729, doi:10.1016/S0378-7788(01)00062-7
[14] S.Onmura, et al.,"Study on Evaporative Cooling Effect of Roof Lawn
Gardens," Energy and Buildings, Vol.33, Sep. 2001, pp.653-666,
doi:10.1016/S0378-7788(00)00134-1
[15] Nyuk Hien, W., Puay Yok, T., & Yu, C. (2007). Study of thermal
performance of extensive rooftop greenery systems in the tropical
climate. Building and Environment, 42(1), 25-54.
[16] Gaffin, S., Rosenzweig, C., Parshall, L., Beattie, D., Berghage, R.,
O-Keefe, G., et al. (2005). Energy Balance Modeling Applied to a
Comparison of White and Green Roof Cooling Efficiency. Proc. of 3rd
North American Green Roof Conference: Greening rooftops for
sustainable communities, Washington, DC, 4-6.
[17] Spala, A., Bagiorgas, H. S., Assimakopoulos, M. N., Kalavrouziotis, J.,
Matthopoulos, D., & Mihalakakou, G. (2008). On the green roof system.
Selection, state of the art and energy potential investigation of a system
installed in an office building in Athens, Greece. Renewable Energy,
33(1), 173-177.
[18] Rumana, R., & Mohd Hamdan, A. (2009). The Passive Cooling Effect
of Green Roof in High-rise Residential Building in Malaysia. Paper
presented at the The Sixth International Conference of the Center for the
Study of Architecture in the Arab Region (SAUD 2009).
[19] Snodgrass, E. C., & McIntyre, L. (2010). The Green Roof Manual: A
Professional Guide to Design, Installation, and Maintenance. Portland,
Oregon: Timber Press, pp.31.