Heating and Cooling Energy Conservation Effects by Green Roof Systems in Relation with Building Location, Usage and Number of Floors

Abstract

Building energy consumption takes up almost 25% of the total energy consumption. Therefore, diversified ways, such as improving wall and window insulation, have been considered to reduce building energy consumption. Recently, green roof system has been explored as an effective alternative for dealing with reducing heating and cooling energy, thermal island effect and improving water quality. However, recent studies regarding a green roof system have only focused on building energy reduction without considering the applied usage, location, and story of the green roof system. Therefore, this study pays attention to the heating and cooling energy in relation to the applied usage, location, and story of a green roof system for investigating its impact on energy reduction. The result of simulations show that the reduction in heating energy consumption is higher when applied to Cherwon-gun province which has a continental climate condition, compared to the city of Busan that is distinguished by its warm climate. Cooling energy saving turns out to be higher when the green roof system is applied to Busan in comparison with Cherwon. As for the applied usage or function of the building, residential space acquires the highest heating and cooling energy saving effect rather than commerce, educational or office space because of HVAC's running time based on usage. When it comes to the story of the green roof, both heating and cooling energy saving become the highest when the green roof is applied to single-storied buildings. The reason is that single story building is affected by the ground largely. Generally, the variations of heating energy consumption are larger than the cooling energy consumption. The outcome of the simulations, when a green roof system is applied, indicates that the energy consumption reduction rate is dynamically responding to the applied usage, location, and story. Therefore, these factors should be counted closely for maximizing the reduction of energy consumption through green roof systems.