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Thermal Performance Evaluation of Roofing Systems and Materials in Malaysian Residential Development 
THERMAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF ROOFINGSYSTEMS AND MATERIALS IN MALAYSIAN RESIDENTIALDEVELOPMENT
Allen Lau Khin Kiet, Elias Salleh and Lim Chin Haw
 Department of Architecture, Faculty of Design and Architecture, Universiti Putra Malaysia
elsall06@gmail.comABSTRACT: Among the major problems of Malaysian residential development is the overheatingof roof space due to inappropriate selection of roofing systems and materials. The aim of thisstudy is to investigate the effect of commonly-used residential roofing systems and materials onMean Radiant Temperature (MRT). The results then will be used to recommend an appropriateroofing system and materials for optimum thermal performance under Malaysian climate. The firststage of the study involved an observation survey of the roofing systems and materials of recentresidential developments in Malaysia to establish commonly-used roofing systems and materials.This was followed by simulations of MRT by using Heat Transfer in Buildings (HTB2) software toevaluate thermal performance of selected roofing systems and materials. The results of theobservation revealed that concrete roof tiles are the most commonly-used roofing finish, followed by clay tiles and metal deck. Simulation studies indicate that clay tiles have the best thermal performance with respect to MRT, followed by concrete tiles and metal deck. For reflective insulationmaterials, double-sided aluminium foil is strongly recommended as compared to single sidedaluminium foil which is the most widely-used used in residential development. It is alsorecommended that reflective insulation can be used to replace mass insulation materials such asrockwool due to the higher thermal performance. Hybrid ceiling proved to have the best performancein reducing thermal radiation into the interior space, followed by plaster board and cement board.
 Keywords: residential building, roofing system, thermal performance, mean radiant temperature
1.0INTRODUCTION
Among the major problems of Malaysian residential development is the overheating of roof spacescaused by inappropriate selection of roofing systems and materials. For buildings in equatorialregions with warm and humid climate such as Malaysia, the roof has been said to be a major source of heat gain. Solar protection of the roof remains one of the main concerns in the thermaldesign of buildings in the region (W. Puangsombut et al., 2007; Francois et al., 2004; Olgyay,1992; Koenigsberger et al., 1980).Previous studies have shown that in Malaysian houses, roof has a huge impact on the thermal performance of the whole building (Badrul et al., 2006; Nor, 2005). Due to its geographical location,Malaysia receives the sun directly overhead most of the day throughout the year. Therefore, major heat gain of Malaysian houses comes from the roof. Once the heat gets into the roof space, the hotair heats up the internal structures and surfaces, and the heat is then retained for most of the night.The excessive heat gained from the sun will be radiated from the roof space to the occupants inthe house through long wave radiation (Koenigsberger et al., 1980). According to previous studies,around 87% of heat transfer from the roof to occupant is through radiation process, whereby onlyaround 13% of heat is transferred through conduction and convection (Cowan, 1973), as illustrated
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 Humanity + Technology
in Figure 1. The radiant heat received by the occupants in a house can be measured as MeanRadiant Temperature (MRT).The Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT) is the area-weighted average of all the surfacetemperatures in a room, and is affected by the position of the person in relation to the varioussurfaces. The larger the surface area and the closer to the person, it will have more influence to anoccupant’s MRT. This explains why the roof plays an important role in determining the overall MRTof the house, which will have a direct impact on the thermal comfort level of the occupants. Accordingto Peng Chen (2002), the thermal radiation of roof largely depends on the composition materials.Inappropriate roofing materials will cause overheating of roof space and therefore excessive heatwill be radiated to the occupants. Unfortunately, there is a general lack of concern on the importanceof the effect of roofing materials on MRT and human comfort level in local residential development.This is the main cause of the problem of inappropriate use of roofing materials. Therefore, this studyis aimed at gathering local data for a better understanding on the effects of roofing systems andmaterials on MRT to provide better thermal performance for residential buildings in Malaysia.
2.RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study involved an observation survey on the types of common roofing systems and materialsused in recent residential developments in Malaysia, as well as simulations of MRT on selectedroofing systems and materials using HTB2. The aim of the observation survey is to gain a better understanding of the types of common roofing systems and materials used in recent residentialdevelopments in Malaysia. It was carried out by conducting site visits to 40 residential developmentsin Malaysia. Analyses of documents were focused on the types of roofing materials and roofingconstruction methods.The second stage of the study involved computer simulations by using HTB2 software.Considerations given to roof materials include roof finish materials, reflective insulation (radiant barriers), mass insulation materials and ceiling materials, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1:
Thermal radiation from roof into interior 
(
Source:
Cowan, 1973)
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Thermal Performance Evaluation of Roofing Systems and Materials in Malaysian Residential Development 
2.1Observation Survey
An observation survey was carried out from December 2006 to March 2007 on the roofing systemsand materials for recent residential developments within the state of Selangor and Wilayah PersekutuanKuala Lumpur in Malaysia. This is due to the fact that major residential developments in Malaysiaare concentrated within these areas. There were 40 housing samplings involved in this observation,including terrace houses, semi detached houses, cluster houses, and bungalows. The construction of these 40 housing samplings ranged between the years 2002 to 2007. The breakdown of housingtypes and roof finishes are listed in Table 1.
 
Table 1:
Breakdown of housing type and roof finishesBuilding typeConcrete tilesClay tilesMetal deck Terrace house181– Semi detached81– Cluster house1–– Bungalow722Total34 (85%)4 (10%)2 (5%)
2.2Simulation of Roof Thermal Performance
Based on a performance assessment and selection process, HTB2 was selected as the simulationsoftware for this study. HTB2 was developed as an investigative model of the thermal performanceof buildings by D.K. Alexander from the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, Wales.A double-storey terrace house in Kuala Lumpur was used as the baseline model for the simulation process. The model was based on the actual house orientation, materials, windows and doors positionand sizes, and internal partitions. The roof model includes the roof form, roof pitch, roof size, andconstruction method of the roof. The data on the common type of roofing materials and constructionconfigurations obtained from the observation survey were simulated for evaluation of the thermal performance of the various common roof assemblies.
Figure 2:
Roofing system and materials
 
Roof SpaceRoof finishInsulation
Ceiling
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