Green Roofs, Vegetation Types, Impact on the Thermal Effectiveness: An Experimental Study in Cyprus

Abstract

Anthropogenic activities and climate change have a profound impact on the urban environment. Therefore, energy conservation is an important subject for city planners. Green roofs can provide building insulation and mitigate against the urban heat island effect. This research was conducted in Cyprus, comparing different types of green roof vegetation against a control roof with no vegetation and their concomitant effects on indoor temperatures. The research project was performed at Near East University Campus for duration of twelve months. The experiment consisted of three different green roof types, and each hut with green roof had 3.5 m2 roof areas with a soil depth of 8 cm. In addition, one control green roof system was established without insulation, without soil, and without vegetation. In order to measure the indoor temperatures of the huts, Elitech RC-5 temperature data loggers were used. The research results showed that green roof huts provided lower mean temperatures than the control hut during the summer period. Most importantly, huts with shrub plants had the lowest temperatures during hot summer conditions. Our results indicated that green roofs perform an important role in terms of building insulation and its subsequent energy use.