Cool Roofs in the US: The Impact of Roof Reflectivity, Insulation and Attachment Method on Annual Energy Cost

While it is well-known that cool roofs can efficiently reduce cooling demand in buildings, their overall energy performance in mixed and cold climates has been a topic of debate. This paper presents a comprehensive simulation study to evaluate the combined impact of roof reflectivity, insulation lev...

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Autores principales:	Athanasios Tzempelikos, Seungjae Lee
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	cool roofs adhered roofs mechanically attached roofs building energy modeling thermal performance insulation Technology T
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/38f934d327dc492fbe78fa251592749e
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:38f934d327dc492fbe78fa251592749e2021-11-25T17:27:35ZCool Roofs in the US: The Impact of Roof Reflectivity, Insulation and Attachment Method on Annual Energy Cost10.3390/en142276561996-1073https://doaj.org/article/38f934d327dc492fbe78fa251592749e2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/22/7656https://doaj.org/toc/1996-1073While it is well-known that cool roofs can efficiently reduce cooling demand in buildings, their overall energy performance in mixed and cold climates has been a topic of debate. This paper presents a comprehensive simulation study to evaluate the combined impact of roof reflectivity, insulation level, and construction type (adhered vs attached) on annual energy demand and energy costs in the United States, for different buildings and climate zones. EnergyPlus was used to model three building types (retail, office, and school buildings) for the 16 most climate-representative locations in the US using typical reflectivity and insulation values. The results show that (i) roof reflectivity is equally important to roof insulation in warm climates; (ii) for low-rise offices and schools, the benefits of reflective roofs vs dark-colored roofs are clear for all US climatic zones, with higher savings in warm climates; (iii) for big-box-retail buildings, reflective roofs perform better except for cold climate zones 7–8; (iv) dark-colored, mechanically attached roofs achieve slightly better performance than reflective roofs in mixed and cold climates. Decision makers should consider building type, climatic conditions, roof insulation levels, and durability performance, along with roof reflectivity, when assessing the overall potential benefits of cool roofs.Athanasios TzempelikosSeungjae LeeMDPI AGarticlecool roofsadhered roofsmechanically attached roofsbuilding energy modelingthermal performanceinsulationTechnologyTENEnergies, Vol 14, Iss 7656, p 7656 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	cool roofs adhered roofs mechanically attached roofs building energy modeling thermal performance insulation Technology T
spellingShingle	cool roofs adhered roofs mechanically attached roofs building energy modeling thermal performance insulation Technology T Athanasios Tzempelikos Seungjae Lee Cool Roofs in the US: The Impact of Roof Reflectivity, Insulation and Attachment Method on Annual Energy Cost
description	While it is well-known that cool roofs can efficiently reduce cooling demand in buildings, their overall energy performance in mixed and cold climates has been a topic of debate. This paper presents a comprehensive simulation study to evaluate the combined impact of roof reflectivity, insulation level, and construction type (adhered vs attached) on annual energy demand and energy costs in the United States, for different buildings and climate zones. EnergyPlus was used to model three building types (retail, office, and school buildings) for the 16 most climate-representative locations in the US using typical reflectivity and insulation values. The results show that (i) roof reflectivity is equally important to roof insulation in warm climates; (ii) for low-rise offices and schools, the benefits of reflective roofs vs dark-colored roofs are clear for all US climatic zones, with higher savings in warm climates; (iii) for big-box-retail buildings, reflective roofs perform better except for cold climate zones 7–8; (iv) dark-colored, mechanically attached roofs achieve slightly better performance than reflective roofs in mixed and cold climates. Decision makers should consider building type, climatic conditions, roof insulation levels, and durability performance, along with roof reflectivity, when assessing the overall potential benefits of cool roofs.
format	article
author	Athanasios Tzempelikos Seungjae Lee
author_facet	Athanasios Tzempelikos Seungjae Lee
author_sort	Athanasios Tzempelikos
title	Cool Roofs in the US: The Impact of Roof Reflectivity, Insulation and Attachment Method on Annual Energy Cost
title_short	Cool Roofs in the US: The Impact of Roof Reflectivity, Insulation and Attachment Method on Annual Energy Cost
title_full	Cool Roofs in the US: The Impact of Roof Reflectivity, Insulation and Attachment Method on Annual Energy Cost
title_fullStr	Cool Roofs in the US: The Impact of Roof Reflectivity, Insulation and Attachment Method on Annual Energy Cost
title_full_unstemmed	Cool Roofs in the US: The Impact of Roof Reflectivity, Insulation and Attachment Method on Annual Energy Cost
title_sort	cool roofs in the us: the impact of roof reflectivity, insulation and attachment method on annual energy cost
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/38f934d327dc492fbe78fa251592749e
work_keys_str_mv	AT athanasiostzempelikos coolroofsintheustheimpactofroofreflectivityinsulationandattachmentmethodonannualenergycost AT seungjaelee coolroofsintheustheimpactofroofreflectivityinsulationandattachmentmethodonannualenergycost
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Cool Roofs in the US: The Impact of Roof Reflectivity, Insulation and Attachment Method on Annual Energy Cost

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