The effect of rooftop garden on reducing the internal temperature of the rooms in buildings

Abstract

With the rapid industrialization and urban expansion pushing cities to build skyscrapers, streets, and homes often at the expense of plant life and vegetation people have forgotten the real reasons for vegetation. For most them, trees and other vegetation serve merely as a luxury or to make cities look prettier. While providing aesthetic value is a well-known fact, the integration of plants and other wildlife can also benefit cities in other ways. It is not until recently that people realized the effect of uprooting plants, one of these effects is the Urban Heat Island Effect. To alleviate its effects, urban planners, in developed countries, have been using rooftop gardens as a way to merge vegetation in urban areas. The purpose of this research is to study the effectiveness of rooftop gardens in reducing the Urban Heat Island Effect in the climate and conditions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This research uses a one sample t-test to measure the extent of the effects. Model buildings; similar to materials that make up real buildings in Jeddah; with and without a rooftop garden were used in the experiment. The internal temperature of each building was recorded at regular intervals for a period of time, and the results were then compared. The results showed that there is a difference in temperatures between the two buildings especially, in the peak temperatures. It is expected that if rooftop gardens were implemented on a large scale, will reduce energy consumption and eventually energy bill. Consequently, the rooftop garden will be a financially and an environmentally beneficial idea.