The role of green roofs in mitigating Urban Heat Island effects in the metropolitan area of Adelaide, South Australia

• The effect of albedo variation on temperatures in urban environments was measured.
• Intensive beds (AI and BI) showed more capacity for thermal insulation.
• Addition of 30% in green roof area would reduce the electricity consumption by 2.56 (W/m2/Day).

Changing an urban environment and replacing vegetated surfaces with low albedo materials is one of the reasons for increasing temperatures in an urban environment and consequently also one of the key causes of urban heat island effects. In this study, an experimental investigation at the micro-scale and also a numerical simulation at the macro-scale of a typical urban environment in Adelaide were conducted to estimate the potential for mitigating the UHI effect. The results showed that existing low albedo materials such as asphalt, metal roofs and brick pavements contribute to the heat island potential. Also, urban development and a lack of natural vegetation contribute to increased temperatures in cities. The ability of two types of extensive and intensive green roofs to reduce the surrounding micro-climate temperature were monitored. The results showed that they have significant cooling effects in summer time and could behave as an insulation layer to keep buildings warmer in the winter. Furthermore, different scenarios of adding green roofs to the Adelaide urban environment were investigated using the Envi–MET model. The scenario modelling of adding green roofs in a typical urban area in Adelaide, Australia, supported the hypothesis that this can lead to reductions in energy consumption in the Adelaide urban environment. Also an increased use of other water sensitive urban design technologies such as green walls and street trees together with the adoption of high albedo materials is recommended for achieving the optimum efficiency in terms of reducing urban temperatures and mitigating urban heat island effects.