Thermal response to cold in buildings with Green covers for tropical climate. Green facades and green roofs

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate the benefits that building using natural elements can provide to indoor environments when temperatures are lower. For this purpose, an experimental procedure was used to allow a comparison of the thermal behaviour of four systems: a prototype called Control (no vegetation) and three different combinations of vegetation (roofs and facades) installed in a region of tropical climate. They recorded simultaneously internal surface temperatures, internal air temperature and the external environmental conditions. The results show that the use of plant systems in buildings establishes a passive technique effective in reducing energy consumption, because of its insulation property and it maintains more pleasant thermal internal conditions than internal ones.