The purpose of this study was to assess the degree to which green roof infrastructure could reduce the urban heat island in the city of toronto.
Urban heat island green roof diagram.
Green roofs combat the urban heat island effect through three fundamental functions.
The hydrologic and thermal performance of six different extensive green roofs and reflective and non reflective roofs in a sub tropical climate.
The first is evapotranspiration which is the process of using heat in the air to evaporate water in plants and soil.
Urban heat island diagram.
A green roof is simply a roof that includes plants and vegetation.
Green roofs provide shade remove heat from the air and reduce temperatures of the roof surface and surrounding air.
Smart surfaces have also been shown to.
So a green roof not only prevents the building s roof from absorbing heat but cools the air around it offsetting the urban heat island effect to an extent.
Green roofs harness the same evaporative cooling effect that cities lose when they hack away vegetation.
Developing a uhi strategy addressing uhi requires investment in a variety of measures including white or reflective roofs green roofs urban forests and reflective paving.
Green roofs urban planni ng pervious pavements s hade trees and existence of water bodies in city areas are the potentia l uhi mitigation strategies on which d iscussion is done in this p aper.
Green roofs are not created equal.
There are a myriad of strategies being adopted by cities across the world to reduce urban heat island uhi and adapt to climate change.
Green roofs repainting dark surfaces and increased tree planting can all help lower temperatures in summer months.
Besides greenhouse gas reduction strategies to reduce global warming cities are also taking steps to reduce the heat island effect which makes urban areas more vulnerable to heat waves.
This process cools green roofs as the moisture from the evapotranspiration lowers the temperature of the growing medium of the roof heat.
Green roofs tend to maintain an ambient temperature of 90 degrees f creating optimal conditions for air conditioning.
Using green roofs in cities or other built environments with limited vegetation can moderate the heat island effect particularly during the day.
Green roof infrastructure is a technology that allows the use of vegetation to reduce rooftop temperatures.
Urban heat island global warming climate change green roof system urban park roof plan built environment urban planning sustainable living urban design.
In the heat island effect diagram urban parks ponds and residential areas are cooler than downtown areas.
Image courtesy of pps.
The mesoscale community compressible mc2 model was.
