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SUMMARY:EESS talk on "Evaluating the performance of vegetated and reflecti
 ve roofs to cool cities and increase solar panel yield"
DTSTART:20210427T121500
DTEND:20210427T130000
DTSTAMP:20261002T015016Z
UID:d39f715b2f8ac96104a27ca9115c1c537bc47fec44e24828a84743cd
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr Lauren Cook\, PATT and Group leader\, Dept. Urban Water Man
 agement\, EAWAG\nAbstract:\nDue to their ability to reduce the surface tem
 perature of rooftops\, sustainable roofing configurations\, such as vegeta
 ted and reflective roofs\, are a promising way to mitigate urban heat and 
 increase urban resilience. More recently\, due to their cooling effect\, t
 hese sustainable rooftops are also gaining attention for their ability to 
 increase solar panel yield. Photovoltaic (PV) panel efficiency is reduced 
 as temperatures rise\, and cooler roofs can hinder heat exchanged with the
  PV panel on hot days. While evidence is growing that these integrated sys
 tems can increase solar energy generation\, especially in warmer climates\
 , they are rarely selected and designed with this objective in mind. It re
 mains unclear whether these systems are effective in cooler climates\, lik
 e Switzerland\, and whether targeted design practices could improve their 
 performance to meet this and other objectives\, including heat mitigation.
  This study quantifies the ability of sustainable green and reflective roo
 fs to reduce temperatures and increase solar panel yield in cooler climate
 s\, compared to traditional black and gravel roofs. This study also explor
 es how the design properties of the roof (e.g.\, vegetation or membrane ty
 pe) could be altered to better achieve both of these goals.\n\nSimulated r
 esults for a rooftop near Zurich\, Switzerland\, show that peak roof tempe
 ratures are\, on average\, 10 to 16 deg C cooler on green and white roofs\
 , respectively\, than gravel roofs\, leading to an increase in annual (201
 9) PV electricity yield from 1.5 % to 4%\, depending on the rooftop design
  characteristics. Experimental results from a different study site show th
 at a green roof planted with Silene Vulgaris (a plant with high transpirat
 ion) can reduce air temperatures and increase PV panel yield more than oth
 er green roofs with different vegetation (e.g.\, Sedum album) and nearly a
 s much as a light colored\, sponge roof. Overall\, reflective roofs are ge
 nerally more effective than green roofs at mitigating urban temperatures a
 nd increasing PV yield\; however\, vegetated roofs provide additional bene
 fits\, such as stormwater attenuation and habitat for threatened species\,
  that are important to recognize when considering different sustainable ro
 ofing configurations. Future research will use decision analysis to evalua
 te rooftop choices with respect to cost and multiple co-benefits\, includi
 ng using vegetation to increase habitat for improved biodiversity.\n\nShor
 t biography:\nDr. Lauren Cook is a group leader at Swiss Federal Institute
  of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) in the Department of Urban Wate
 r Management. With her background in hydrologic engineering\, energy\, and
  climate impacts modeling\, her research focuses on quantitative approache
 s for the design of multifunctional blue-green stormwater infrastructure t
 o create more sustainable and resilient cities. She received her Ph.D. in 
 2018 in Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mell
 on University (Pittsburgh\, USA) and her B.S. in Civil & Environmental Eng
 ineering in 2010 from the University of Maryland\, College Park (USA).
LOCATION:ZOOM https://epfl.zoom.us/j/84677261593
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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