JP Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
Volume 7, Issue 1, Pages 65 - 84
(February 2013)
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AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND ENERGY DYNAMICS OF AN INTENSIVE GREEN ROOF
J. Darkwa, G. Suba and G. Kokogiannakis
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Abstract: The overall assessment of an intensive green roof located in a sub-tropical region has been undertaken. The results showed a fairly good agreement between the theoretical and the practical data and also confirmed July and January as the hottest and coldest periods, respectively, for the region. Investigation of the soil properties established it as a silt type with good planting medium properties for green roofs. The analysis also showed an average temperature reduction of 3.3°C in July and a remarkable differential temperature of 15.5°C during the coldest period of January. In terms of energy demand, the green roof was able to reduce the total cooling load by about 39% in July and by 38% of the heating load in January, thus making it a potential low carbon technology for reducing energy consumption in large commercial buildings. There is, however, no definite evidence to suggest that this result is due to its sub-tropical location. Further studies are, therefore, encouraged to cover a wider area of influence such as different types of construction materials, vegetation, location and soil. |
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