Energy performance of school roofing materials in hot and humid climates
Source abstract
Abstract
Effective roof insulation plays a pivotal role in reducing the energy used for air-conditioning, particularly in Taiwan’s extreme summer climate. In the present study, 1108 cases of rooftop insulation renovations in Taiwanese schools between 2018 and 2022 were investigated, and the thermal insulation performance and air-conditioning-related electricity savings associated with these renovations were analyzed through a cost–benefit assessment of the investment in insulation. The EnergyPlus software was used to model typical classroom roofs in seven climate zones in Taiwan. All the adopted thermal insulation methods considerably reduce air-conditioning-related electricity use; however, diminishing returns occur faster for thicker thermal insulation. The four main roof insulation materials used in the analyzed cases are galvanized corrugated steel, foam concrete, polystyrene sheets, and insulating bricks, which are associated with average maximum electricity-saving ratios of 17%, 15.3%, 10.2%, and 9.7%, respectively, and payback periods of 6.1, 6.4, 4.5, and 9.3 years, respectively. Electricity savings are greater and the payback period is shorter for the hotter southern zones of Taiwan than for the cooler northern zones. Galvanized corrugated steel has average energy efficiency of 21% and 13% in the southern and northern zones, respectively. The selection of roof construction materials strongly influences the consumption of energy for air-conditioning. Moreover, different construction costs result in distinct payback periods. The results of this study serve as a reference for school administrators and governments in the selection of insulation methods and design of building energy conservation and management, respectively.
Source: openalex_inverted_index · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Building Energy and Comfort Optimization · Urban Heat Island Mitigation · Sustainable Building Design and Assessment
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (68)
Show source-provided references
1. IPCC AR6 WG III, IPCC Sixth Assessment, Working Group III (IPCC AR6 WG III), Climate Change 2022, Mitigation of Climate Change, UNEP, 2022.
2. Impacts of COVID-19 on energy demand and consumption: challenges, lessons and emerging opportunities10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.116441 ↗
3. Dynamic 4E (energy, exergy, economic and environmental) analysis and tri-criteria optimization of a building-integrated plant with latent heat thermal energy storage10.1016/j.enconman.2022.115868 ↗
4. Investment analysis of gas-turbine combined heat and power systems for commercial buildings under different climatic and market scenarios10.1016/j.enconman.2018.12.086 ↗
5. International Energy Agency (IEA), Tracking clean energy progress 2021, 2021. 〈https://www.iea.org/reports/tracking-buildings-2021〉 (Accessed March, 2022).
6. Green Recovery Tracker (GRC), Sectoral analysis, 2021. 〈https://www.greenrecoverytracker.org/sectoral-analysis〉 (Accessed March, 2022).
7. International volatility transmission among income, CO2 emission, non-renewable and renewable energy consumption: which causes which and when?10.1016/j.egyr.2022.07.168 ↗
8. Understanding the energy consumption of information and communications equipment: a case study of schools in Taiwan10.1016/j.energy.2022.123701 ↗
9. Investigation of building-integrated photovoltaic, photovoltaic thermal, ground source heat pump and green roof systems10.1016/j.enconman.2023.116926 ↗
10. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I, IPCC Sixth Assessment, Climate Change 2021, the Physical Science Basis, UNEP, 2021.
11. Energy system transformations and carbon emission mitigation for China to achieve global 2C climate target10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112721 ↗
12. Energy performance assessment of Sea Water Air Conditioning (SWAC) as a solution toward net zero carbon emissions: a case study in French Polynesia10.1016/j.egyr.2022.11.201 ↗
13. M. McPherson, E. Rhodes, L. Stanislaw, R. Arjmand, M. Saffari, R. Xu, C. Hoicka, M. Esfahlani, Modeling the transition to a zero emission energy system: A cross-sectoral review of building, transportation, and electricity system models in Canada, Energy Reports 9 4380–4400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2023.02.090.10.1016/j.egyr.2023.02.090 ↗
14. Carbon sink quantification aids for achieving the zero-emission goal: a case study in Japan10.1016/j.egyr.2022.06.102 ↗
15. Comprehensive parameters for the definition of nearly zero energy and cost optimal levels considering the life cycle energy and thermal comfort of school buildings10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.111487 ↗
16. Potential passive cooling methods based on radiation controls in buildings10.1016/j.enconman.2022.116342 ↗
17. Natural ventilation systems in 21st-century for near zero energy school buildings10.1016/j.energy.2017.05.188 ↗
18. Examining impact factors of residential electricity consumption in Taiwan using index decomposition analysis based on end-use level data10.1016/j.energy.2020.119067 ↗
19. A study on the energy performance of school buildings in Taiwan10.1016/j.enbuild.2016.10.036 ↗
20. Energy consumption in elementary and high schools in Taiwan10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.254 ↗
21. Analysis of energy use intensity and greenhouse gas emissions for universities in Taiwan
22. Interactive analysis of green building materials promotion with relevance to energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from Taiwan’s building sector10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.111959 ↗
23. The correlation of energy performance and building age in UK schools
24. Energy consumption analysis of school buildings in Manitoba, Canada10.1016/j.ijsbe.2017.05.003 ↗
25. Field study on the energy consumption of school buildings in Luxembourg10.1016/j.enbuild.2013.10.002 ↗
26. Estimation model and benchmarks for heating energy consumption of schools and sport facilities in Germany10.1016/j.buildenv.2011.08.006 ↗
27. Impacts of multiple factors on energy consumption of aging residential buildings based on a system dynamics model--taking Northwest China as an example
28. Increasing the energy efficiency of a building by thermal insulation to reduce the thermal load of the micro-combined cooling, heating and power system10.1016/j.egyr.2021.07.122 ↗
29. Energy consumption of Finnish schools and daycare centers and the correlation to regulatory building permit values10.1016/j.enpol.2018.04.029 ↗
30. Building age as an indicator for energy consumption10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.10.074 ↗
31. From indicators to strategies: key performance strategies for sustainable energy use in Portuguese school buildings10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.09.025 ↗
32. Energy consumption characteristics of the elementary schools in South Korea10.1016/j.enbuild.2012.07.015 ↗
33. Electricity consumption indicators and energy efficiency in residential buildings in GCC countries: extensive review10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.111664 ↗
34. Cool roofs can mitigate cooling energy demand for informal settlement dwellers10.1016/j.rser.2022.112183 ↗
35. Impacts of green certification programs on energy consumption and GHG emissions in buildings: a spatial regression approach10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.111677 ↗
36. A transparent insulation façade enhanced with a selective absorber: a cooling energy load and validated building energy performance prediction model10.1016/j.enbuild.2018.10.032 ↗
37. A study on the feasibility of a new roof slab insulation system in tropical climatic conditions10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.109653 ↗
38. Determination of optimum insulation thickness based on cooling transmission load for building walls in a hot climate10.1016/j.enconman.2012.10.002 ↗
39. The impact of passive design strategies on cooling loads of buildings in temperate climate10.1016/j.csite.2021.101588 ↗
40. Optimizing photovoltaic electric generation and roof insulation in existing residential buildings10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.111652 ↗
41. Benefits of switchable insulation systems for residential buildings in France10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.111868 ↗
42. Impact of switchable roof insulation on energy performance of US residential buildings10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.106882 ↗
43. On the cooling energy conservation potential of super cool roofs10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.112076 ↗
44. On the potential of switching cool roofs to optimize the thermal response of residential buildings in the Mediterranean region10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110698 ↗
45. Investigating the performance of reflective insulation and low emissivity paints for the energy retrofit of roof attics10.1016/j.enbuild.2018.10.003 ↗
46. Comprehensive evaluation of thermal and energy performance of radiative roof cooling in buildings
47. Effect of existing residential renovation strategies on building cooling load: cases in three Chinese cities10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.111548 ↗
48. Optimization of cool roof and night ventilation in office buildings: a case study in Xiamen, China10.1016/j.renene.2019.10.032 ↗
49. M.C. Ho, K.T. Huang, J.C. Wang, The development and research on hourly typical meteorological years (TMY3) for building energy simulation analysis of Taiwan, 2013.
50. Identifying a suitable hourly solar diffuse fraction model to generate the typical meteorological year for building energy simulation application10.1016/j.renene.2020.05.094 ↗
51. EnergyPlus Engineering Reference, Version 9.6 Documentation, University of Illinois and Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2022.
52. EnergyPlus: creating a new-generation building energy simulation program10.1016/S0378-7788(00)00114-6 ↗
53. EnergyPlus, IDA ICE and TRNSYS predictive simulation accuracy for building thermal behaviour evaluation by using an experimental campaign in solar test boxes with and without a PCM module10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.109812 ↗
54. A comparative analysis on alternative air-conditioning systems for high-tech cleanrooms and their performance in different climate zones
55. Numerical study on the thermal performance of water flow window fed with air-conditioning condensate
56. Energy and environmental investigation of R744 all-in-one configurations for refrigeration and heating/air conditioning needs of a supermarket10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123234 ↗
57. Energy performance of phase change materials integrated into brick masonry walls for cooling load management in residential buildings10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.107930 ↗
58. A life-cycle cost analysis for an optimum combination of cool coating and thermal insulation of residential building roofs in Tunisia10.1016/j.energy.2018.04.010 ↗
59. Assessing cooling loads from roofs with attics: modeling versus field experiments10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.112003 ↗
60. Model predictive control for active insulation in building envelopes10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.112108 ↗
61. Development of the closed loop pulsating heat pipe cool roof system for residential buildings10.1016/j.csite.2021.101487 ↗
62. Experimental characterization of reflective coating material for cool roofs in hot, humid and dusty climate10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.110993 ↗
63. Operational feasibility of a hybrid roof insulation system with bamboo and vegetation: an experimental study in tropical climatic conditions
64. Passive cooling of the green roofs combined with night-time ventilation and walls insulation in hot and humid regions10.1016/j.scs.2018.01.027 ↗
65. Thermal and energy performance of green roof and cool roof: a comparison study in Shanghai area10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122205 ↗
66. Functional green roofs: importance of plant choice in maximising summertime environmental cooling and substrate insulation potential10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.02.011 ↗
67. A holistic approach for assessing architectural integration quality of solar photovoltaic rooftops and shading devices10.1016/j.solener.2022.02.019 ↗
68. Rooftop photovoltaic system as a shading device for uninsulated buildings10.1016/j.egyr.2022.03.082 ↗