loading page

Exploring the effects of rooftop mitigation strategies on 1 urban temperatures and energy consumption
  • +5
  • Andrea Zonato,
  • Alberto Martilli,
  • Estatio Gutierrez,
  • Fei Chen,
  • Cenlin He,
  • Michael Barlage,
  • Dino Zardi,
  • Lorenzo Giovannini
Andrea Zonato
University of Trento

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Alberto Martilli
CIEMAT
Author Profile
Estatio Gutierrez
University of New York
Author Profile
Fei Chen
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Author Profile
Cenlin He
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Author Profile
Michael Barlage
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Author Profile
Dino Zardi
University of Trento
Author Profile
Lorenzo Giovannini
University of Trento
Author Profile

Abstract

This paper describes and evaluates novel parameterizations for accounting for the effect of rooftop mitigation strategies on the urban environment, in the context of the mesoscale model Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF), coupled with a urban canopy parameterization and a building energy model (BEP+BEM). Through the new implementation, the sensitivity of near-surface air temperature and building energy consumption to different rooftop mitigation strategies is evaluated by means of numerical simulations in idealized urban areas, for typical summer and winter conditions. Rooftop mitigation strategies considered include cool roofs, green roofs and rooftop photovoltaic panels. Results indicate that near-surface air temperature is reduced by all the RMSs during the summer period: cool roofs are the most efficient in decreasing air temperature (up to 1 °C on average), followed by green roofs and photovoltaic panels. Green roofs reveal to be the most efficient strategy in reducing the energy consumption by air conditioning systems, up to 45%, while electricity produced by photovoltaic panels overcomes energy demand by air conditioning systems. During wintertime, green roofs maintain a higher near-surface air temperature than standard roofs. On the other hand, photovoltaic panels and cool roofs reduce near-surface air temperature, resulting in a reduced thermal comfort. The results presented here show that the novel parameterization schemes implemented in the WRF model can be a valuable tool to evaluate the effects of mitigation strategies in the urban environment. The new model is available as part of the public release of WRF in version 4.3.
16 Nov 2021Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres volume 126 issue 21. 10.1029/2021JD035002