Passive warming of indoor space induced

by tropical green roof in winter

C. Y. Jim, Passive warming of indoor space induced by tropical green roof in winter, Energy, vol. 68,
pp. 272-282, Feb 2014, doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2014.02.105
 PASSIVE WARMING OF INDOOR SPACE INDUCED BY
TROPICAL GREEN ROOF IN WINTER
INTRODUCTION :
Ambient and indoor temperature reduction brought by vegetated roofs could reduce the energy and carbon
footprint burden of cities, and offer a means for climate-change adaptation.
most studies of green-roof thermal benefits focus squarely on summer to highlight the benefits of energy
saving and human comfort.

Paper is about the experiment done to trim heat loss.

“Benefits of green roof in summers” is deeply investigated and research has been performed.
Experiment done in residential building of Tseung Kwan O New Town, Hong Kong. West pointing wing of high
rise building is chosen, to establish three experimental blocks.

GREEN ROOF MATERIALS AND TREATMENTS-

Five layered reinforced concrete slab (for roof) construction commonly adopted in Hong Kong- 25 mm screed,
1 mm waterproof membrane, 40 mm polystyrene foam, 25 mm cement-sand bedding, and 35 mm precast
concrete tile.
2% fall to facilitate drainage water removal.

A five-layered green roof system installed on the roof surface from top- bottom.
MEXICAN SEDUM PLOT
• 50 mm substrate layer - support plant growth.
• Calcined clay pellets -with limited moisture-
holding capacity and cation exchange capacity.
• 50 mm thickness of mineral soil- Layer not
suitable for Sedum Plot as it cannot tolerate high
substrate water content.
PERENNIAL PEANUT PLOT
• decomposed granite with sandy- loam texture
and free drainage- enriched with 20% (v/v)
mature compost.
• A slow-release granular fertilizer with
12:12:12:3 (NPKMg) composition was applied
by broad- casting at 40 g/m2 just before the
active growing season.
• 50 mm hydrophilic rockwool (silica mineral-fiber
board)- water-retention layer to store water and
permit root penetration. (light weight & high
moisture- holding capacity of 80% by volume).
dry weight -6 kg/m², & saturated weight - 46
kg/m².
• 50 mm thickness of mineral soil- normal bulk
density - 1.4 Mg/m³, dry weight- 70 kg/ m²,
saturated weight of 117 kg/m².
(as a substitution to heavy soil layer, permitting
retrofitting of green roofs on buildings with limited
load-bearing capacity. )
 MEXICAN SEDUM PLOT & PERENNIAL PEANUT PLOT

• 1 mm non-woven polypropylene geotextile filter - to prevent entry of soil particles into the drainage
layer.
• 25 mm high-impact polystyrene drainage layer – to permit fast drainage (store water in its receptacles to
supply the water mainly by capillary rise to rock wool and substrate layers.)
• 0.5 mm low-density polyethylene root barrier sheet - to prevent entry of roots into the building fabric.
• plots are equipped with thermal insulation and water-proofing layers.
 GREEN ROOF EXPERIMENTAL PLOTS
• Roof site = 80m²
• divided into three plots- The two vegetated treatment plots are exactly the same size, and the Control
Plot is slightly smaller.
• All windows facing the southeast direction.
• During experiment all windows and doors are kept closed- to avoid external influence on the measured
parameters
• Below the plot, three domestic apartments were kept vacant- to prevent disturbing the monitoring.

Additional windows in ‘Block A’

-blocked by gyp- sum board
with mineral-wool center to
stop sunshine ingress.
PEANUT PLOT C-
• Planted with Perennial Peanut (Arachis pintoi) - native to Tropical South America.
• Evergreen perennial groundcover - tolerant of high temperature and well adapted for tropical green
roofs.
• Nitrogen fixing legume- adopts C3 photosynthesis mode.
• Dense and persistent mat of stolon and foliage & golden- yellow small flowers for 6 warm months.
• Attract wildlife such as bees and butterflies.

SEDUM PLOT B-
• Planted with Mexican Sedum (Sedum mexicanum) - a perennial herb native to Central America.
• Drought-tolerant plant, limited surface area to reduce transpiration and conserve moisture.
• CAM photosynthesis- closes stomata and reduces daytime transpiration to conserve moisture, and opens
stomata in nighttime to trap carbon in organic acids for use in daytime photosynthesis.

CONTROL PLOT A-
• Existing roof with concrete-tile surface is left bare- to provide baseline data.
• Five- layered reinforced concrete slab.
 ENVIRONMENTAL SENSORS AND MONITORING
• Weather station was installed on Plot A - to collect
baseline meteorological data.
• All plots equipped with sensors- to collect a wide
range of temperature and substrate moisture data
in both outdoor and indoor environment.
• Sensors installed along a vertical profile- in air
above green roof of each plot, and in indoor space.
• Outdoor sensors- air temperature at 150cm and
15cm height. And material temperature of plot
surface. (A,B,C)
• Green-roof sensors- in soil(B,C), rockwool (C),
drainage (B,C), concrete, tile surface at green-roof
bottom(B,C).
• Indoor sensors- inside the room, at 150cm height
below the roof.
• Heat flux through the roof slab is calculated as
follows:
V = k(Tt – Tc)/Δd
k = thermal conductivity of the roof slab (Wm-1 K-1);
Tt is the roof tile surface. (for vegetated roof-
surface at the bottom of green roof , bare roof-
exposed tile surface temperature)
Tc = ceiling surface temperature (K)
Δd (m)= thickness of the roof deck.
• positive V value - heat ingress to indoor space
(heat gain), negative V value- heat egress (heat
loss).

• Plot A- 7 sensors, Plot B- 10, and Plot C- 11.

• Outdoor air-temperature and substrate-
temperature sensors were Lufft 8160.TTF or
8160.TF Pt100 type Indoor air- temperature
sensors- Hobo U14 thermistor. Plot and ceiling
surface temperature- measured by infrared non-
contact radiometers.
Plot B Mexican Sedum (Sedum
mexicanum) with full and
vigorous coverage. The
environmental sensors above
and below the green roof are
placed near the center of the
plot.
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The diurnal temperature patterns of three typical weather days, namely sunny, cloudy, and rainy in winter
respectively for the three plots are depicted-

1. Control Plot
winter sunny day-
• exposed roof-surface records the lowest temperature of
all sensors throughout the day.
• Day time maximum 12.4 °C < ambient maximum of 19.6
°C.
Night time minimum 5.8 °C < ambient minimum 10.2 °C.
Daily maximum at 150 cm is 10.3 higher than that of roof
surface.
• Concrete low heat absorption property- fast rate of heat
loss at bare tile roof.
• On winter sunny daytime, the relatively weak solar
radiation limits warming effect of the rather new concrete
tile with an albedo of at 0.4- 0.5.

• The heat flux at the Control Plot remains negative

throughout at 0745 h to -26.6 Wm-² at 1230 h.
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1. Control Plot
winter cloudy day-
• reduced solar radiation- slightly lowered the maximum air
temperature than sunny day. but raised the minimum to
13.2 °C.
• Comparing with sunny day, the peaks have been delayed
from 1245 to 1500 h.
• The cloud cover has reduced radiative cooling in daytime
and nighttime to bring warmer roof-surface than sunny
day.
• Comparing the graphs lines, indoor air is warmer than
ceiling-surface by about 2-3°C, and both temperatures are
almost constant throughout the day.
• Comparing with sunny day, cloudy day permits relatively
more warmth accumulation in the bare-roof surface to
reduce heat loss through the roof. Heat flux, however,
remains negative throughout the cloudy day.
• As a result, wider diurnal amplitude in heat flux is
recorded in comparison with the sunny day. However, the
absolute loss of indoor warmth is still quite significant.
The negative heat flux is evidently accentuated on a
colder cloudy day.
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1. Control Plot
winter rainy day-
• Rainy day temperature patterns (Fig.) are similar to cloudy
day.

• Roof-surface temperature drops below ambient minimum

in nighttime. Out- door air temperatures have extremes
similar to ambient values. Roof-surface registers a
considerably lower maximum of 12.0°C and minimum of
4.8 °C. The additional cooling due to 20.6 mm rainwater
has notably cooled roof-surface.
• On a colder rainy day, the dissipation of indoor heat has
been emphasized with marked loss even around midday.
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1. Sedum Plot
winter sunny day-

• Solar radiation warms it to a higher outdoor temperature,

reaching a daytime maximum of 24.5°C at 1330 h vis-à-vis
the ambient 19.6 °C.
• The clear sky and cold night have induced fast heat
dissipation from Sedum surface by radiative cooling.
• It warms up at a faster rate in the morning and cools down
at a faster rate in the afternoon. Thus it takes more time
and solar energy to warm Sedum-surface, but its stored
heat is soon lost with decline in solar input in the
afternoon.
• The three green roof layers are cooler than Sedum-surface
but significantly warmer than Control roof-surface.
 CONCLUSION
• bare Control roof- loses a amount of heat by negative (upward) heat flux that may induce uncomfortably
cold indoor space.
• Green roof substrate can store heat energy by converting solar radiation to sensible heat in daytime to
create green- roof heat-sink effect (GHE).
• GHE could form a thermal gradient to drive positive (downward) heat flux to indoor space in subtropical
winter.
• Soil and rockwool (porous growing medium)- can store water to enhance thermal capacity to serve as
efficacious receptor and repository of sensible heat.
• herbaceous Sedum green-roof (5-cm soil layer)- can achieve sufficient GHE to permit positive (downward)
heat flux to warm indoor air.
• Perennial Peanut green-roof (10-cm porous substrate) including soil and rock wool layers - enhanced water-
holding capacity and hence higher thermal capacity to accentuate GHE.
• GHE is relatively more effective on rainy day, followed by cloudy day, and then sunny day. It indicates that
more solar energy input on sunny day has driven more effective evapotranspiration cooling to counteract
and hence dampen GHE. As a result, more solar energy input on sunny day suppresses rather than
enhances GHE.