scholarly journals The Impact of Green Roofs on the Parameters of the Environment in Urban Areas—Review

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dariusz Suszanowicz ◽  
Alicja Kolasa Więcek

This study presents the results of a review of publications conducted by researchers in a variety of climates on the implementation of ‘green roofs’ and their impact on the urban environment. Features of green roofs in urban areas have been characterized by a particular emphasis on: Filtration of air pollutants and oxygen production, reduction of rainwater volume discharged from roof surfaces, reduction of so-called ‘urban heat islands’, as well as improvements to roof surface insulation (including noise reduction properties). The review of the publications confirmed the necessity to conduct research to determine the coefficients of the impact of green roofs on the environment in the city centers of Central and Eastern Europe. The results presented by different authors (most often based on a single case study) differ significantly from each other, which does not allow us to choose universal coefficients for all the parameters of the green roof’s impact on the environment. The work also includes analysis of structural recommendations for the future model green roof study, which will enable pilot research into the influence of green roofs on the environment in urban agglomerations and proposes different kinds of plants for different kinds of roofs, respectively.

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (6 Part A) ◽  
pp. 2309-2324
Author(s):  
Marija Lalosevic ◽  
Mirko Komatina ◽  
Marko Milos ◽  
Nedzad Rudonja

The effect of extensive and intensive green roofs on improving outdoor microclimate parameters of urban built environments is currently a worldwide focus of research. Due to the lack of reliable data for Belgrade, the impact of extensive and intensive green roof systems on mitigating the effects of urban heat islands and improving microclimatic conditions by utilizing high albedo materials in public spaces were studied. Research was conducted on four chosen urban units within existing residential blocks in the city that were representative of typical urban planning and construction within the Belgrade metropolitan area. Five different models (baseline model and four potential models of retrofitting) were designed, for which the temperature changes at pedestrian and roof levels at 07:00, 13:00, 19:00 h, on a typical summer day, and at 01:00 h, the following night in Belgrade were investigated. The ENVI-met software was used to model the simulations. The results of numerical modeling showed that utilizing green roofs in the Belgrade climatic area could reduce air temperatures in the surroundings up to 0.47, 1.51, 1.60, 1.80 ?C at pedestrian level and up to 0.53, 1.45, 0.90, 1.45 ?C at roof level for four potential retrofitting strategies, respectively.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Buo ◽  
Valentina Sagris ◽  
Iuliia Burdun ◽  
Evelyn Uuemaa

HortScience ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 509A-509
Author(s):  
Derald A. Harp ◽  
Edward L. McWilliams

Urban areas have average annual temperatures 2–3°C warmer than surrounding rural areas, with daily differences of 5–6°C common. A suggested reason for this temperature difference is the extensive use of concrete, asphalt, and other building materials in the urban environment. Vegetation can moderate these temperatures by intercepting incoming radiation. The influence of vegetation patterns on the magnitude of urban and micro-urban “heat islands” (UHI and MUHI, respectively) is compared for several cities including Houston, Austin, College Station, and Ft. Worth, Texas; Huntsville, Ala.; and Gainesville, Fla. Temperatures for all cities studied were greatest in the built-up areas and dropped off in suburban areas and adjacent rural areas. In Houston, surrounding rice fields were 3–5°C cooler than urban areas. Heavily built-up areas of Austin were 2–4°C warmer than parks and fields outside of the city. In all of the cities, large parks were typically 2–3°C cooler than adjacent built-up areas. Large shopping malls varied in nocturnal winter and summer temperature, with winter temperatures near door openings 2–3°C warmer, and summer daytime temperatures as much as 17°C cooler beneath trees. This effect seemed to persist at the microclimatic scale. Areas beneath evergreen trees and shrubs were warmer in the winter than surrounding grass covered areas. Video thermography indicated that the lower surfaces of limbs in deciduous trees were warmer than the upper surfaces. Overall, vegetation played a significant role, both at the local and microscale, in temperature moderation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 05005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minh Tuan Le ◽  
Nguyen Anh Quan Tran

The cumulative heating in some urban areas due to the urban growth and its types of industry, energy and transport, is the effect of urban heat island (UHI). It is recognized as one of the characteristics of the urban climate. The temperature increase caused by the effect (UHI) affects the energy flow in urban ecological systems, creates an unusual urban climate. By studying the effects of climate factors, local building materials to optimize energy efficiency, urban landscape, UHI phenomenon could be significantly moderated.


2013 ◽  
Vol 52 (9) ◽  
pp. 2051-2064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Li ◽  
Elie Bou-Zeid

AbstractCities are well known to be hotter than the rural areas that surround them; this phenomenon is called the urban heat island. Heat waves are excessively hot periods during which the air temperatures of both urban and rural areas increase significantly. However, whether urban and rural temperatures respond in the same way to heat waves remains a critical unanswered question. In this study, a combination of observational and modeling analyses indicates synergies between urban heat islands and heat waves. That is, not only do heat waves increase the ambient temperatures, but they also intensify the difference between urban and rural temperatures. As a result, the added heat stress in cities will be even higher than the sum of the background urban heat island effect and the heat wave effect. Results presented here also attribute this added impact of heat waves on urban areas to the lack of surface moisture in urban areas and the low wind speed associated with heat waves. Given that heat waves are projected to become more frequent and that urban populations are substantially increasing, these findings underline the serious heat-related health risks facing urban residents in the twenty-first century. Adaptation and mitigation strategies will require joint efforts to reinvent the city, allowing for more green spaces and lesser disruption of the natural water cycle.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Safieddine ◽  
Maya George ◽  
Cathy Clerbaux ◽  
Ana Paracho ◽  
Anne Boynard ◽  
...  

<p>IASI is a versatile mission, allowing the measurement of both meteorological parameters such as temperature and atmospheric composition for infrared absorbing species. With its long observation record and frequent overpasses, IASI is able to follow changes at different spatial scales. We studied IASI’s capability to track the anthropogenic signature associated with large cities, both in terms of temperature fingerprint (urban heat islands) and carbon monoxide (CO) content, a good tracer of human activity (transport, heating, and industrial activities). For this study we averaged the IASI data available since the launch of the first IASI, in order to increase the signal to noise, and allow discriminating the city from its surroundings. For skin temperatures we show that some cities experience much warmer temperatures than nearby rural areas, with day and night differences, whereas other urban areas appear as cold urban islands when surrounded by deserts Examples will be shown and compare with MODIS observations. For CO emitted by human activities, we identified some cities that stand out from their background, and were able to compare their CO associated signatures with measurements provided by other available spaceborne instruments such as Mopitt and TROPOMI.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-122
Author(s):  
Zuzana Poorova ◽  
Zuzana Vranayova

Abstract The need to house population in urban areas is expected to rise to 66% in 2050, according to United Nations. The replacement of natural permeable green areas with concrete constructions and hard surfaces will be noticed. The densification of existing built-up areas is responsible for the decreasing vegetation, which results in the lack of evapotranspiration cooling the air. Such decreasing vegetation causes urban heat islands. Since roofs and pavements have a very low albedo, they absorb a lot of sunlight. Several studies have shown that natural and permeable surfaces, as in the case of green roofs, can play crucial role in mitigating this negative climate phenomenon and providing higher efficiency for the building, leading to savings. Such as water saving, what is the main idea of this research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-12
Author(s):  
Matej Holečka ◽  
Martin Jamnický ◽  
Matúš Krajčík ◽  
Roman Rabenseifer

Abstract Extensive roof greenery is one of the ways to reduce the extent and impact of urban heat islands. A prerequisite is the correct design and operation of both the structural and vegetation part of a roof. If adequate maintenance, especially irrigation of the greenery, cannot be ensured, the use of extensive roof greenery can also be counterproductive. The case study to be presented deals with problems of a flat roof with extensive greenery above an underground garage under Central European climate conditions. Infrequent irrigation leads to extremely high temperatures of the substrate in the summer and makes the purpose of this roof pointless. The contribution analyzes the reason for the failure of the vegetation part of the roof, which was claimed to be maintenance-free, points out fire safety issues, and suggests improvements that might be considered in similar cases. At the present time, which is marked by the climate change crisis, there is great societal pressure to build green roofs. However, if it is not possible to ensure their perfect functionality, it is perhaps better to use classically proven types of roofs, but with greater reflectivity of the top layer surface.


2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-134
Author(s):  
Maria Stopa-Boryczka ◽  
Jerzy Boryczka ◽  
Jolanta Wawer

Abstract The more important research results on the impact of building development and vegetation on the local climate, conducted in Warsaw in the years 1959–2009 by the Department of Climatology, are presented. Majority of the issues associated with determining the deformation of air temperature limits (urban heat islands), humidity and wind vector areas, because of buildings in housing estates, located in various parts of the city, were resolved in master’s thesis. Areas with high building density are characterized by slow cooling and warming pace, especially during the summer months. Spatial changes in the urban heat islands in the east-west direction well describe the latitudinal profiles (W-E) of air temperature differences (∆T ≥ 0) between the city and its urban fringe. The urban heat island ∆T does not appears till 5PM, initially in the Central City District. Spatial diversity of effective temperature and catathermal cooling allowed to mark off in housing estates („Stawki”, „Służew nad Dolinką”, „Sady Żoliborskie”) places with perceptible conditions, e.g. heat, warmth, comfort, cold.


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