Green roofs save energy in cities and fight regional climate change
摘要
Cities around the globe search for solutions to tackle the challenges of climate resilience and energy consumption. The potential of green roofs representing a nature-based solution in mitigating urban heat and related energy consumption at the urban scale is given limited attention. Here we apply a comprehensive framework integrating urban climate modeling, urban building energy modeling and statistical analysis with empirical data to address this research gap through a case study in Seoul. The findings highlight that the efficacy of nonirrigated extensive green roofs is significantly influenced by meteorological conditions, underscoring the importance of considering those factors in green-roof design and implementation. Moreover, the cooling effect of green-roof implementation at the urban scale causes monthly urban building energy use intensity reductions of up to 0.64 kWh m−2 (7.7%). The insights from this research have broad implications for cities around the world experiencing the challenges imposed by urban heat.