Numerical simulation and experiments with green roofs for increasing indoor thermal comfort

摘要

Green roofs not only improve architectural aesthetics but also help with sustainable development of urban areas. Since modern cities lack green areas, green roofs have been widely used in recent years. This paper is focused on the thermal properties of green roofs and development of a finite element analysis model for the improvement of indoor thermal comfort. A full-scale field experiment was carried out on a school building in Taipei from 29/12/2011 to 01/07/2012 to verify the analysis model and investigate the actual benefit of extensive green roofs. Results found that green roofs have little insulation effect in winter but significant cooling effect in summer, which would decrease the indoor temperature up to 4 degrees C, compared to bare roofs.