IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v6y2013i2p598-618d23147.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Green-Roof Effects on Neighborhood Microclimate and Human Thermal Sensation

Author

Listed:
  • Lilliana L.H. Peng

    (Department of Geography, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China)

  • C. Y. Jim

    (Department of Geography, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

Green roofs have been recognized as an effective sustainable design tool to mitigate urban heat island (UHI) effects. Previous studies have identified green-roof benefits in cooling and energy-conservation at the building scale, with limited exploration of the wider influence on neighborhood microclimate and human thermal comfort (HTC). This paper investigated the impacts of community-scale green-roof installation on air temperature and HTC in five typical residential neighborhoods of subtropical Hong Kong. The microclimate models ENVI-met and RayMan permitted studies of two main green-roof scenarios, namely extensive (EGR) and intensive (IGR). Microclimatic monitoring data from a local experimental green-roof site validated the modeling methods. The results verified that green-roof cooling effects were not restricted to rooftops, but extended to the ground to improve neighborhood microclimate. EGR reduced pedestrian-level air temperature by 0.4–0.7 °C, and IGR by 0.5–1.7 °C, with maximum effect in open-set low rise sites. Coverage by building footprints and building height dampened lateral and vertical advection of cool air generated by green roofs. Roof greening also improved notably the rooftop-podium level HTC. Diurnal duration of high heat stress was reduced by 6–9 h for EGR scenarios, and 9–11 h for IGR. The findings indicated that large-scale green-roof installation could bring neighborhood-wide cooling, mitigate urban heat island effect, and furnish more comfortable thermal environment for urban residents.

Suggested Citation

  • Lilliana L.H. Peng & C. Y. Jim, 2013. "Green-Roof Effects on Neighborhood Microclimate and Human Thermal Sensation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-21, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:6:y:2013:i:2:p:598-618:d:23147
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/6/2/598/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/6/2/598/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Spala, A. & Bagiorgas, H.S. & Assimakopoulos, M.N. & Kalavrouziotis, J. & Matthopoulos, D. & Mihalakakou, G., 2008. "On the green roof system. Selection, state of the art and energy potential investigation of a system installed in an office building in Athens, Greece," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 173-177.
    2. Xuemei Bai, 2007. "Integrating Global Environmental Concerns into Urban Management: The Scale and Readiness Arguments," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 11(2), pages 15-29, April.
    3. Kuang-Sheng Liu & Sung-Lin Hsueh & Wen-Chen Wu & Yu-Lung Chen, 2012. "A DFuzzy-DAHP Decision-Making Model for Evaluating Energy-Saving Design Strategies for Residential Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 5(11), pages 1-19, November.
    4. Santamouris, M. & Pavlou, C. & Doukas, P. & Mihalakakou, G. & Synnefa, A. & Hatzibiros, A. & Patargias, P., 2007. "Investigating and analysing the energy and environmental performance of an experimental green roof system installed in a nursery school building in Athens, Greece," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1781-1788.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pérez, Gabriel & Vila, Anna & Rincón, Lídia & Solé, Cristian & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2012. "Use of rubber crumbs as drainage layer in green roofs as potential energy improvement material," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 347-354.
    2. Refahi, Amir Hossein & Talkhabi, Hossein, 2015. "Investigating the effective factors on the reduction of energy consumption in residential buildings with green roofs," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 595-603.
    3. Chan, A.L.S. & Chow, T.T., 2013. "Evaluation of Overall Thermal Transfer Value (OTTV) for commercial buildings constructed with green roof," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 10-24.
    4. Ouldboukhitine, Salah-Eddine & Belarbi, Rafik & Sailor, David J., 2014. "Experimental and numerical investigation of urban street canyons to evaluate the impact of green roof inside and outside buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 273-282.
    5. Lilliana L. H. Peng & C. Y. Jim, 2015. "Seasonal and Diurnal Thermal Performance of a Subtropical Extensive Green Roof: The Impacts of Background Weather Parameters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(8), pages 1-16, August.
    6. Raji, Babak & Tenpierik, Martin J. & van den Dobbelsteen, Andy, 2015. "The impact of greening systems on building energy performance: A literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 610-623.
    7. Yan Li & Hongwu Du & Ceren Sezer, 2022. "Sky Gardens, Public Spaces and Urban Sustainability in Dense Cities: Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Singapore," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-20, August.
    8. Jaffal, Issa & Ouldboukhitine, Salah-Eddine & Belarbi, Rafik, 2012. "A comprehensive study of the impact of green roofs on building energy performance," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 157-164.
    9. Bevilacqua, Piero, 2021. "The effectiveness of green roofs in reducing building energy consumptions across different climates. A summary of literature results," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    10. Jim, C.Y., 2015. "Diurnal and partitioned heat-flux patterns of coupled green-building roof systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 262-274.
    11. Jim, C.Y., 2014. "Passive warming of indoor space induced by tropical green roof in winter," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 272-282.
    12. Saadatian, Omidreza & Sopian, K. & Salleh, E. & Lim, C.H. & Riffat, Safa & Saadatian, Elham & Toudeshki, Arash & Sulaiman, M.Y., 2013. "A review of energy aspects of green roofs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 155-168.
    13. Ferrante, Patrizia & La Gennusa, Maria & Peri, Giorgia & Rizzo, Gianfranco & Scaccianoce, Gianluca, 2016. "Vegetation growth parameters and leaf temperature: Experimental results from a six plots green roofs' system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(P3), pages 1723-1732.
    14. Mihalakakou, Giouli & Souliotis, Manolis & Papadaki, Maria & Menounou, Penelope & Dimopoulos, Panayotis & Kolokotsa, Dionysia & Paravantis, John A. & Tsangrassoulis, Aris & Panaras, Giorgos & Giannako, 2023. "Green roofs as a nature-based solution for improving urban sustainability: Progress and perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    15. Brunetti, Giuseppe & Porti, Michele & Piro, Patrizia, 2018. "Multi-level numerical and statistical analysis of the hygrothermal behavior of a non-vegetated green roof in a mediterranean climate," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 204-219.
    16. Issah Justice Musah-Surugu & Albert Ahenkan & Justcie Nyigmah Bawole, 2019. "Too weak to lead: motivation, agenda setting and constraints of local government to implement decentralized climate change adaptation policy in Ghana," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 587-607, April.
    17. Tao Lin & Yunjun Yu & Xuemei Bai & Ling Feng & Jin Wang, 2013. "Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accounting of Urban Residential Consumption: A Household Survey Based Approach," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(2), pages 1-12, February.
    18. Dirk Heinrichs & Kerstin Krellenberg & Michail Fragkias, 2013. "Urban Responses to Climate Change: Theories and Governance Practice in Cities of the Global South," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(6), pages 1865-1878, November.
    19. Vijayaraghavan, K., 2016. "Green roofs: A critical review on the role of components, benefits, limitations and trends," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 740-752.
    20. Elisa Peñalvo-López & Javier Cárcel-Carrasco & David Alfonso-Solar & Iván Valencia-Salazar & Elias Hurtado-Pérez, 2020. "Study of the Improvement on Energy Efficiency for a Building in the Mediterranean Area by the Installation of a Green Roof System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-14, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:6:y:2013:i:2:p:598-618:d:23147. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.