Investigation of Thermal Benefits of an Extensive Green Roof in Coimbatore Climate

Green roofs provide environmental benefits by protecting buildings against solar radiation and temperature fluctuations and by reducing building's energy consumption by direct shading. Green roofs are used as aesthetic elements as well as their ecological benefits for the city and urban environment. Comparative measurements were performed through field study in Tamilnadu Agricultural University (TNAU) to produce quantitative data on this subject and investigate the thermal properties of a typical extensive green roof. This paper analyses the thermal properties of a typical extensive green roof in comparison with a concrete roof (reference roof). During measurement period, it has been confirmed that a typical extensive green roof with 0.15 m thick growing media provided a thermal protectionto the building envelope against extreme temperature effects. The key findings of temperature differences between green roof and reference roof slabs had reachedto 14.2ºC for maximumtemperature and 16ºC for minimum temperature. Results obtained from the field measurements show that green roofs are a sustainable choice in Coimbatore climate conditions.