Springtime monitoring of passive cool roofs in subtropical climate

Abstract

Passive strategies for acclimatization of buildings have been studied by several authors in many countries, especially the evaporative and radiant cooling techniques. Fiber cement tiles are very common in popular constructions due to their low cost. However, they have over twice of the value thermal transmittance indicated to this bioclimatic zone according to Brazilian guidelines. The objective is to present an alternative to reduce high temperatures on fiber cement tiles. In this paper, the monitoring of passive cooling of roofing during the spring season in a city with subtropical climate is described. Single and combined reflective and evaporative cooling systems were studied in different environmental conditions. Internal surface temperatures of tiles were monitored together with weather variables. Results show a decrease of about 6 ºC, 9 ºC, 10 ºC and 11 ºC as compared to the original tiles according to environment conditions and the combined passive cooling techniques. These results allow for the conclusion that the use of passive cooling techniques opens up new possibilities to attenuate the internal surface temperatures of tiles and to consequently decrease the roofing solar heat gain into buildings, thus, providing less air cooling energy consumption.