State-of-the-art analysis of the environmental benefits of green roofs

Umberto Berardi, AmirHosein GhaffarianHoseini and Ali GhaffarianHoseini

Applied Energy, 2014, vol. 115, issue C, 428 pages

Abstract: Green roofs have been proposed for sustainable buildings in many countries with different climatic conditions. A state-of-the-art review of green roofs emphasizing current implementations, technologies, and benefits is presented in this paper. Technical and construction aspects of green roofs are used to classify different systems. Environmental benefits are then discussed mainly by examining measured performances. By reviewing the benefits related to the reduction of building energy consumption, mitigation of urban heat island effect, improvement of air pollution, water management, increase of sound insulation, and ecological preservation, this paper shows how green roofs may contribute to more sustainable buildings and cities. However, an efficient integration of green roofs needs to take into account both the specific climatic conditions and the characteristics of the buildings. Economic considerations related to the life-cycle cost of green roofs are presented together with policies promoting green roofs worldwide. Findings indicate the undeniable environmental benefits of green roofs and their economic feasibility. Likewise, new policies for promoting green roofs show the necessity for incentivizing programs. Future research lines are recommended and the necessity of cross-disciplinary studies is stressed.

Keywords: Green roofs; Sustainable design; Low-energy buildings; Environmental benefits (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (108)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261913008775
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:115:y:2014:i:c:p:411-428

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 405891/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.10.047

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan

More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().