Btti/d. A',+i Vol. 9, pp. 9-16. Pergamon Press 1974. Printed in Great Britain.

I___ I (27) [~J) i

Experimental Study on the Effect of Roof

Spray Cooling on Unconditioned and
Conditioned Buildings
S. P. J A I N *
K. R. RAO+

This paper present,+ the result of experimental investigations otl the ~}[:/ect o[
roof pond, roof spray and wetted gunny bag O'sterns on the temperature and
heat flow at the ceiling surface of thick R.C.C. roofs of air conditioned and
unconditioned rooms exposed to a hot-dry climate. Re.+'ults show that an
appreciable reduction of the order of 13,15 and 17°C. re,+pectivelv has been
observed in the ceiling temperature by these three cooling .s'ystems. Peak heat
flow is reduced b3' 85 per cent in the case,++of roof-spray and ro~?fpond svstem,~.
Furthermore the heat flow get,++reversed i.e. it flows out of the room in [he case
of wetted gunny bags. An integrated system of roof spray and air-conditioning
brings about a reduction of the order of 60--65 per cent in the peak heat.flow,
resulting into a saving of 40 per cent in the electrical consumption.

INTRODUCTION The object of experiments covered by this paper

was to determine (1) quantitatively the extent to
IN T H E T R O P I C S considerable heat flows into
which intermittent spraying and other cooling
buildings[7]. The ceiling o f the r o o m attains high
system like water pond and evaporative cooling can
temperatures of the order o f 40-45°C.
cool thick and heavy R.C.C. roofs under the
Different roof treatments such as increasing the
unconditioned state, and (2) the reduction in the air
r o o f thickness, inserting additional insulation.
conditioning load and running costs in the case o f
providing false ceilings, shading the roof, surface
an integrated system of r o o f spray and air con-
treatment with reflective paints[5] and r o o f spray or
ditioning.
pooled water, are possible means o f reducing tem-
perature and heat flow. Treatments for reducing the
transfer o f heat from the r o o f to the ceiling are not TEST FACILITIES AND MEASURING
as efficient as other types of treatments used to
TECHNIQUES
reduce the effective incidence of heat on the roof.
One of such means used at the University of Texas. To study the effect of r o o f spray and other
has been placing o f permanent pools of water on cooling systems four identical full sized (3.5 ×
the roofs, but this method has its own limitations 2-9 × 3.2 m) test rooms having similar design and
including structural difficulties. The use o f r o o f following specifications were selected :
sprays to reduce the temperature and thus minimise
R o o f s - - 1 5 cm R.C.C. with 1-27 cm cement
the inward heat flow o f absorbed solar radiation
plaster both sides.
was first investigated at the A S H R A E laboratory at
W a l l s - - 2 3 cm solid brick wall with 1.27 cm
Pittsburg in 193911] and then at Phoenix in 196514].
cement plaster both sides.
The usefulness of spray cooling was well established
in the case of thin, lightly constructed and poorly These test rooms are located in an open site to
insulated roof[2, 3]. For such applications, the cost ensure unobstructed exposure conditions and they
o f conventional air-conditioning would be prohibi- are spaced so that no mutual shading occurs at any
tive, but r o o f sprays can improve substantially the time. Also in order to eliminate the effect of
coml~)rt o f the occupant. ventilation tests were carried out with doors and
windows of the test rooms shut.
* Central building research institute, Roorkee. The difference in thermal equivalence due to non-
+ Presently working as an Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Building uniformity of construction is minor and it was con-
Science, Faculty of Architecture, University of Singapore, firmed by taking a series of tests on test-rooms
 10 ,5~. P. Ja#~ and K. R. Rao
without any treatment. Various types of cooling
system for roofs were tried out in three of the test
rooms, while the fourth one with an untreated roof
served as the standard r o o m for comparison.
The test conditions and as well as the duration of
various tests are listed in Table 1. A layer of tarfelt
was laid on the r o o f top o f each o f the four rooms.
Air conditioners were installed in the standard and
spray cooled test rooms at the southern walls ;~t
1-2 m above floor, so as to enable comparison wilh
and without r o o f spray under the conditioned
state when desired. The thermostat used tk)r regula-
ting r o o m air temperature within _+ 1 "F were placed
at the centre o f each r o o m 1.2 m above the f l o o r
Time totalisers were also connected to the com-
pressors o f the air conditioners for noting the effec-
tive hours of running. Separate electric k W H
meters were also connected in each room. Water
Tabh, I 7e~'t conditions a m / d u r a t h m o~ lest.s
1 I1
Test room 6 and 7th May 9 and 10th Ma?
number 1972 1972
I (std) No treatment No treatment
No treatment Roof pond with 7-5-cm-
thick water layer day and
night.
3 No treatment Roof spray (intermittent)
for 1], rain. after every 7~
rain. during day only.
4 No treatment Gunny bags wetted three
times during day.
meters were installed for measuring the quantity
o f water used in spray.
Temperatures were measured by 3 0 S . W . G .
calibrated copper constantan thermocouples con-
nected t h r o u g h a junction box and lead wires to a
precision self balancing indicating potentiometer.
The temperatures are correct to 0.25°F. Heat-flow
rates were measured by sensitive and individually
calibrated heat flow meters consisting of several
differential thermal junctions. Curves showing the
variation o f temperatures and heat flows have been
numbered as per test conditions and numbers o f the
test r o o m s given in Table 1.
Various types o f cooling systems
(i) R o o f pond. Water is filled on the r o o f of a test
r o o m up to a level o f 7.5 cm.
(it) R o o f spray. An automatic intermittent r o o f
spray system with a booster p u m p and time cycle
arrangement which sprayed for 2¼ min. at intervals
of 27¼ min has been designed and set up. The time
cycle arrangement comprised :~ -;>t~v:itr~l:l,.)u~ ~ltot~e
driven clock having one re~.oii.~lJc~ ~n <~nc ~;~'~
The p u m p controlled b~ thc ~,,<~ ,~)'clc ~ m m g c
lnefll a n d ~t solenoid valve w,. ~,,,.:(i ~ ,,:o~k li:c
W~ller s p r a y
tilt) H/ettcd gunn.! bags. l.n~pt 5 cement i~ags
were spread on the r o o f top o[ ; t,,:st room ~e~- tilt:
tarfelt and water was sprinkled ~hree times ;~ da 5,
50 litres each time to keep il '~,~':i .round [he clock
DISCUSSION OF TEST RESUL['S
Thermal equivalence Of test room,
The first series of tests withou~ any treatment was
confined to a comparison of the thermal conditions
in all the test rooms with respec~ ~o indoor air and
inner surface temperature.-, ~,1 ihe ceiling. Thc
111 IV
19 and 20th May ~ ~d 4th Jura:
1972 ! 9"7?
Air conditioned a i r conditioned and table fan
"'on" dtlring day and night.
Air conditioned and roof Air conditioned and roof spra?
spray day and night, on wetted gunny bags and
table tim "on" during da~
and night
deviations of m a x i m u m and minimum indoor ai~
temperatures and maximum and m i n i m u m inner
surface temperatures o f ceiling from the tempera-
ture conditions in the standard house are listed in
Tables 2 and 3. Only selected days are considered
on which clear weather remained throughout the
day.
It can be observed f r o m Tables 2 and 3 that the
test r o o m s can be considered as thermally equiva-
lent since the deviations in the air and ceiling surface
temperatures are well within the accuracy of the
measurements. However these minor deviations
can be attributed to non uniformity o f construction.
E[/ect o] stratification
In the case o f conditioned test r o o m s with and
without fan circulation, existence o f stratified air
layers indoors has been observed. Temperatures
were measured at four different levels 2.5 cm,
0.76 m, 1.8 m and 2.4 m below ceiling respectively,
W i t h o u t fan circulation a temperature gradient of"
Kxperimental Study or7 t h e E(['ect ~?f R o o f Spra.t' C o o l i n g o n U n c o n d i t i o t u ' d a n d C o n d i f i t m e d BuilcfiHgs II

Table 2 Deriations o f m a x i m u m attd minimunl indoor air temperatures in test roam.~

]i+om the t'alnes obtained in standard lest room No. I

Air temperature Deviation of air temperatures from those of standard

1.2m above floor test room No. I ( C )
Date of ( CI
test
Test room No. I Test room No. 2 Test r o o m No. 3 Test room No. 4
(Std.)

Max. Min. Max. Min. Max+ Min. Max. Min.

6.5.72 33.9 28-6 0"0 -0.7 -0.3 +0"3 -0"5 - 0"3

7.5.72 34.0 30.0 . 0.2 0"0 0.1 +0-4 -0+1 0"0

Mean 34.0 29.3 -0-1 -0.35 -0-2 +0.35 0.3 -0.15

l}~ble 3 Deriation o f m a x i m u m and minhmmt imter sutJace temperatures q f ceilin,gs i Jr

test rooms f r o m the rah~es obtained bt standard test room No. 1

Ceiling temper- Deviation of ceiling temperature from that in standard

Date of ature (~ C) test r o o m No. 1
test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Test r o o m No. I Test room No. 2 Test room No. 3 Test r o o m No. 4
(std.)

Max. Min. Max. Min. Max. Min. Max. Min.

6.5.72 43.3 27-2 +0.9 + 1-4 +0-6 +0.3 +0.3 -0.3

7+5.72 42.8 29.4 +0.8 -0.2 +0.5 ~ 0.6 +0-5 +0-6

Mean 43-05 28.3 +0.85 -0.8 +0.55 +0.45 +0.4 +0.15

Table 4 R o o f ceiling maxima-minhna temperatures and heat flow under strattl/ied and unstratified contritions

M a x i m u m tern- Reduction in maxi- Total heat flow Reduction in total

Test Date of Shade air perature for un- ma temps, for at ceiling surface heat flow. per day
condition test temperature treated roof sprayed roof per day (untreated) <spray-cooled)
roc, f )

maxima minima roof ceiling roof ceiling (Kcal/mZ/day) Kcal m 2 da~

Without 19~5 72 42"2 24.2 56.9 42.5 26.1 13.6 420 366
fan .............. . . . . . . . . . . . i+Mean-+420
tstratified) 205,72 42-2 20.8 58-3 43.3 26.9 13.6 517 474

With 3 6:72 40.8 28.9 51.7 34.7 20.3 6.8 449 285
fan ,- M ean-+ 263
lunstratified) 4 6'72 38.1 26.1 51.1 33-6 19.7 5-0 437 241 1

the order of 10C was recorded by the two thermo- reduction in maxima temperatures of roof and
couples one at 2.5 cm and the other at 2.5 m below' ceiling and the integrated h e a t f l o w at t h e c e i l i n g
ceiling. With fan circulation however, the tempera- surface per day whereas under the stratified con-
ture gradient vanishes t o n e a r l y 2+'C o n l y . D u e t o dition of the inside air so much reduction is n o t
the unstratified condition there is a c o n s i d e r a b l e o b s e r v e d a s s h o w n in T a b l e 4.
12 ,S'.P..lain and hZ R, Ra:'

FACTORS EFFECTING THERMAL untreated r o o f . T i l e r e d u c t i o ~ ~; h+ghes~ i, '",

CONDITIONS INDOORS wetted gunny bag treatment, t IH.-- ;~ ,.Jtlc i~> ii~,~:.-~
effective evaporation al t h e ~ , , :,~facc

(a) Outside roof surface temperature,~

The hourly variation of the outside roof surface (b) Inside ceiling surface' temper,.'~u,,'c,.
temperatures of all the test rooms with various roof ] h e diurnal variation of" lhc cethng temperature
treatments under the unconditioned state is shown of the test rooms under the unconditioned state a Fe
in figure t. On comparing the roof maximum tem- shown in figure 2, A drop of the ,.,Mer ol" 13, i~ and
peratures the order of reduction for the roof pond. 17 C has been observed for ~i~ rod( pond, roof
roof spray and wetted gunny bag treatments was spray and wetted gunny bag treatments respecti~ el/,
23, 25 and 27°C respectively as compared to the as compared to the ceiling of untreated lesl r o o m

60

ii
?
. . . . / \ / \
35 - / X / \

3o \ 2

25

2O

0 4 8 12 16 20 0 4 8 [2 t6 20
I_ 9-5-72 Time,_ t _ hr 10-5-72
J- -I -

Fi,e, 1.

6C

5~

5O

45

t)
40

~j
55

2
5O
E

2O

1 i I , ] ' ~ ~,_ ; i
Time, hr
9-5-72 ~ 10-5-72 --
i. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

F&-, ~
E.werimental S t u d r on tlw Effbct Of" R o o f S p r a y Cooling on Unconditioned and Conditioned Buildim,,s' 13

(c) b u t o o r air temperature,~ test rooms with and without gunny bags roof treat-
Figure 3 shows the indoor air temperature varia- ment under the unconditioned state is shown in
tions at 1.2 m above floor level in the four test figure 4. The globe temperatures in the untreated
rooms. A drop of the order o f 3, 3.5 and 4~C test room are higher during day time as they include
respectively for the roof pond, r o o f spray and the effect of radiant heat gain from the hot ceiling.
wetted gunny bag treatments was measured. The difference in m a x i m u m globe temperatures
between the untreated and treated test units (roof
(d) Globe t e m p e r a t u r e s pond. roof spray, wetted gunny bags) is of the order
A comparison of the globe temperature of two of 5~C which is quite an appreciable figure.

45

~5 I
/

3
x.-×

2~ i i i i 1 i J [ i
:o3 4 8 12 le 2o 0 4 8 12 16 2o .,
Time, hr
9-5- 72 i 10-5-72

Fi~,. 3.

55

50

.15

,D 4 0
o

- 35
e~ J

e~

E 25
J:
20

__ I t I ; , i : I i i i
4 8 r2 16 2Q 0 4 8 12 16 20
9-5-72 Time, hr
. . . . . . . . ~ 10-5-72 --i

F&,. 4.
14 S. P. Jam and ~. R. Ra,~

(e) Heat flow through the ceiling {t) Intqwaled heat flow throuxt7 ~u~in:,:
For a better compttrisori o1" he{; llo\t ~ilt'{ ::tl]~_]
Besides lowering ceiling temperatures and the wllhoul r o o f treatments p,[et.,r:~led he,q: i!o~,.
corresponding indoor air temperatures in a room. through the ceilings have h c ~ compuied a n d
the important function of different roof treatments presented as bar charts in ligurc <- i~ i; noticed thal
is to reduce the heat flow into the room through the with these treatments, a tremelM,,tts reduc~i,m ~n
roof. This effect is illustrated in figure 5 for the total heat ltow, as much as 240 2(¢~ kcal m l)cr da~
unconditioned test rooms with and without can take place. ]'he maxhnun~ red[l,.;tion is obser'.ed
different roof treatments which is self explanatory for the wetted gunny bag lreatmcnt This brings ou~:
However, it should be appreciated that a large the efficiency of wetted gunn} ~ag Irea{mem !br
reduction of the order of 85 per cent in peak heat thick R.CC. r o o g in hot cJima~t
gains can be achieved by roof spray and roof pond In the case of condilioned te-; rooms with atW,
whereas heat flow gets reversed in the case o f without roof spra> the reducti,,m m ~he toia] heat
wetted gunny bags. flow ~s of the order of 420 kcaii m e per hr whe,a
In the case of unconditioned test rooms with stratilied ap conditions ~c~l.,'; lnd ~x nearl5
and without roof spray the peak heat gain is reduced 2 6 3 k c a l : m : per day when the 'ira~ified ~ir la,.er

5IV
to nearly 65 per cent. ~s disturbed by operating a f',i:~ .:,side

~.~(

I
~E 20

o~ o

4-
0 I0

20

I i i i ;
50 i 4 8 12 I~ 20 0 4 8 F~ # :'o
9-5 72 Time, r'i 10-5- 72
i. . . . . . . . i-
[ S r . 5,

] Untreated 24
50C
24 24

400

30C
20
~ WettedGunneybags

20
H H
~>" 20C

"E
"~ IOC

o .... . . . . . . . . . . . . .

O0 3
o
Igl
4---1oo

I
-200
~ v~24 ~ 24
Unconditioned Conditioned
-500

Fig. 6.
E.vperimental Study on the Effect o f R o o f Spray Cooling on Unconditioned and Conditioned Buildin~x 15

Table 5 Degree hours ~r ceiling temperatures

Total discomfort Duration Peak temp. hour Average discomfort

Test room Conditions (Degree hours) > 30 C (Degree hourst
No -- --
(hr.) ( Ct

I Untreated 153 19 15 1700 8

2 7.5 cm water pond roof on top da.v 4 4 1.4 1600 I
and night
3 Roof spray day time only 2 3 I 1500 0.7
4 Gunny-bags w'etted during day only Nil Nil 2.2 1500 nil
(peak temp. is throughout
less than 30 C)

Degree hour rating j o t ceiling surface
The total discomfort degree hours above a base
temperature of 3 0 C , the d u r a t i o n for which such
temperatures exist, the average of these degrees
per hour and also the peak degree hour, for the
three various treatments along with the untreated
one under the u n c o n d i t i o n e d state were compared
as presented in Table 5. A huge reduction of ceiling
degree hours takes place by the various treatments.
Moreover for the wetted g u n n y bags, the peak
temperature has been always less than 3ffC
t h r o u g h o u t the diurnal cycle.
reduces the discomfort indoors: however, the
wetted g u n n y bag system provides the best com-
fortable conditions indoors. It appears that this
type of evaporative cooling system will be still
more effective if some other convenient type of
material is f o u n d to hold more water than the
g u n n y bags.
For conditioned buildings
An integrated system of roof spray and air
c o n d i t i o n i n g would result in considerable reduction
in the cooling load and the consequent c o n s u m p t i o n
of electrical energy.

CONCLUSION Acknowledgement The authors would like to record their

k))r unconditioned buildings
In tropics the c o n v e n t i o n a l R.C.C. roof needs
some treatment to reduce the ceiling a n d i n d o o r air
temperatures particularly in s u m m e r season.
In general all the roof treatments studied, roof
pond, roof spray and wetted g u n n y bags, effectively
appreciation for the assistance received from Shri Kaloo
Ram, J.L.A., in the experimental and data compilation work.
The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. N. K. D.
Choudhury, Scientist Coordinator efficiency of buildings,
for the keen interest shown in this project.
This paper is based on the work done as a part of the
research programme of the Central Building Research
Institute, Roorkee and is submitted with the approval of
the Director.

REFERENCES

I. E. C. HOUGHTEN,C. GUTBERLETand H. T. OLSON, Summer cooling load as affected by

heat gain through dry, sprinkled and water covered roofs. A.S.H.V.E. Trans. 46, 231
(1940).
2. W. R. WOOLRtCH and W. W. RWE, Solar radiation absorption by wetted roofs. Heatinff
and Ventilating, 84 (1948).
3. C. E. SUTVON, Roof spray for reduction in transmitted solar radiation. Heating, Piping,
and A it Conditioning, 131 (1950).
4. 1. JOHN, Yellott roof cooling with intermittent water sprays. A S H R A E 73rd Annual
Meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, June 27-29 (1966).
5. S. P. JAIN, White washing roof top of residential buildings. Ind. Architect, (19671.
6. K. R. RAO, S. P. JA1N and K. N. AGARWAL,Degree hour rating of thermal performance of
Enclosures. Paper presented at the Symposium on Environmental Physics as Applied to
Buildings in the Tropics, Feb. 25 27, 1969 at the Central Building Research Institute,
Roorkee, India (1969).
7. S. P. JAIN, Thermal performance of perforated brick, hollow and light-weight block con-
struction in tropics. Arch. Sci. Rec. 12, ([) (1969).
16 <V. P../ain asul ~, R Ra,~

Ce texte pr6sente le rdsultat d'etudes expdrimentales ~ur l'efl'et de -,ystdi:le, d,:

refroidissement par bassins, par vaporisation et par sacs de jute mouillds..,ur I~
temp&ature et l'6coulement de chaleur i/ chaleur ~t la surface du p!afond <i~ ~ ,
6pais R.C.C. de pidces gt air conditionn6 et non-conditionn6 exposdes ~'t i~ climber
chaud-froid, kes r6sultats montrent qu'une reduction apprdciable de la ~emp(:,'atu~o
du plafond de I'ordre de 13, 15 et 17C a ,Sid observde par ces troi> sy'<,}v~>> ;!c
refroidissement, ka pointe d'6coulement de chaleur est rdduite de 85 pour c < ! ! ~!a.qs
les cas des syst6mes it vaporisation et ii bassin. [)e plus. t'ecoulement de chaieur c..,~
invers& c'est-it-dire qu'il va de la piece vers I'extdrieur dans le cas du -,ystdm~< i~ ~;c~,
en jute mouillds. Un syst6me intdgrd de vaporisation de toit et d'air cond;iioimC
apporte une rdduction de l'ordre de 60-65 pour cent dans la pointe de 1"6cot~temem
de chaleur, rdsultant en une 6conomie de 40 pour cei~l dans la c:~ns<~p,,;~!i,m
d'dlectricit&

Dieser Bericht bringt die Ergebnisse experimenteller Untersuchungen 0bc~ die

Wirkung yon Dachteich-, Dachspritzwasserund feuchten Jutesacksystemen auf die
Temperatur und den W/irmefluB an der Deckenfl~iche dicker Stahlbetond/icher yon
klimatisierten und nicht klimatisierten R/iumen, welche einem HeiBen-Trockenklima
ausgesetzt sind. Ergebnisse zeigen, dab eine bedeutende Abnahme im Bereich ~on
13, 15 beziehungsweise 17°C in der Deckentemperatur dieser drei Kfihlsysteme
beobachtet wurde. W/irmespitzenfluB wird in den F/J.llen yon Dachspritzwasser und
Dachteichsystemen um 85 Prozent reduziert. AuBerdem dreht sich der W/irmefluB
urn, d.h. die W/irme flieBt im Falle yon feuchten Jutes~icken aus dem Raum heraus.
Ein eingebautes System von Dachspritzung und Klimaanlage verursacht eine Reduk-
tion in dem W/irmespitzenflu8 in H6he von 60 65 Prozent, was eine Ersparnis yon
40 Prozent an elektrischem Strom ergibl.