Building and Environment 236 (2023) 110271

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Building and Environment

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenv

Cool roofs: A climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy for

residential buildings
Keivan Bamdad
School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Australia

A B S T R A C T

Cool roofs offer a passive solution to reduce cooling demand in buildings. However, they increase heating demand in cold seasons. The annual energy-saving po­
tential of cool roofs greatly depends on climate characteristics and may change over time due to global warming. This is particularly important for cool and mild
temperate climates, in which the cool roofs’ cooling benefits may exceed their heating penalties in the future. To understand the impact of cool roofs on building
energy demand for each climate and to explore their future energy-saving potential, these roofs should be evaluated under both present and future climates.
Accordingly, this study aims to: 1) quantify the energy savings (or energy penalties) of cool roofs under a wide range of present climate conditions (from cool to hot
climates); 2) evaluate cool roofs’ energy-savings potential under future climates; and 3) predict when (and under which climate change scenarios) cool roofs will
improve buildings’ thermal performance in the future for cool or mild temperate climates. Results showed that cool roofs reduce annual energy loads by up to 14%
and 22% in tropical and subtropical climates under present and future climates, respectively. For cool and mild temperate climates, while cool roofs increase the
building’s total energy demand under present climates, it is predicted that they offer energy-savings in the 2050s and 2070s for Canberra and Melbourne,
respectively. Understanding the present and future impacts of cool roofs is essential for the implementation of appropriate climate change mitigation and adaptation
strategies for residential buildings in each climate.

1. Introduction building emissions could be reduced by 2050 through retrofitting

existing buildings as well as designing new energy-efficient buildings,
Global warming is a major environmental problem affecting all and effective implementation of renewable energy measures [2,3]. To
countries. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) improve building energy performance, passive solutions such as natural
report states that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by anthro­ ventilation [4] or energy-efficient building envelope materials [5] play a
pogenic activities (e.g., urbanization and deforestation) are responsible critical role and can reduce (or eliminate) the reliance on artificial
for virtually 1.1 ◦ C of the global temperature rise since 1850–1900. The heating and cooling.
temperature rise is expected to continue under all the emission scenarios Of all the building envelope components, roofs are one of the key
introduced by the IPCC [1]. As a result of global warming, extreme elements, contributing significantly to both cooling and heating energy
climate events are forecasted to occur more often and with stronger requirements, particularly in low-rise residential buildings. Roofs are
magnitudes in the future. To reduce global warming and minimize its often exposed to substantial solar radiation, resulting in high solar heat
serious risks, developing scalable low-emissions energy solutions and gain. The heat is then transferred from the roof to the building’s indoor
adaptation strategies along with national and international climate spaces. In a hot climate, the heat gain through roofs can be substantial.
mitigation policies is necessary. Prior research shows that roofs contribute approximately 14% of heat
The building sector is one of the major global energy consumers and gains in residential buildings in the US [6]. One technique to reduce heat
emitters, contributing to approximately 32% of global final energy use gain through roofs is to improve their thermal performance [7,8].
and more than 30% of black carbon emissions [2]. It is expected that A cool roof, also known as a reflective roof, is a roof with high solar
energy demand in this sector will increase in the future for several reflectance (albedo) and thermal emittance. These features make the
reasons, such as population growth, rapid urbanization, and increased roof’s surface temperature cooler than conventional roofs under the
access of people to electricity and housing. Whilst immediate and deep same conditions, and less heat flows from the roof into the building,
emissions reductions are vital across all energy-intensive sectors, the which means less energy is needed to cool buildings. However, cool
building sector has substantial potential to deliver quick and roofs may increase the need for heating energy in the cold months (the
cost-effective GHG reductions. It is predicted that up to 61% of global "heating penalty"). In warm and hot climates, the heating penalty is

E-mail address: [email protected].

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2023.110271
Received 7 October 2022; Received in revised form 26 March 2023; Accepted 2 April 2023
Available online 3 April 2023
0360-1323/© 2023 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
K. Bamdad Building and Environment 236 (2023) 110271

often lower than the cooling benefits, making cool roofs a cost-effective combined adaptation and mitigation strategies can decrease the cooling
and energy-efficient solution to reduce building energy requirements demand by 70% for typical residential buildings in 2050 [31]. To
[9]. Many numerical simulations and field studies have been carried out minimize the heating penalty of cool roofs, Testa and Krarti [32]
so far to investigate the energy-saving potential of cool roofs in different compared energy-saving potentials between static and dynamic cool
building types and climates. Akbari et al. [10] monitored the energy roofs for seven different cities in the US located in ASHRAE climate
performance of one house and two school bungalows in California. It zones 2–6. It was found that, based on building insulation level, variable
was found that seasonal savings of 2.2 kWh/d and cooling energy sav­ reflective coatings can offer energy savings of between 0.9 and 4.9% for
ings of 3.1 kWh/d were achieved after applying a high-albedo coating to residential buildings compared to static cool roofs.
the house and schools, respectively. In another study [11], DOE-2 Another passive strategy to improve building energy needs is green
simulation software was used to simulate cool roofs and estimate sav­ roofs. Cascone et al. [33] analysed the green roof feasibility for retro­
ings in energy and money in buildings for 11 cities in the US. It was fitting existing buildings in Italy. It was found that cooling energy use
found that up to 63% annual energy savings can be achieved. Lapisa can be reduced between 31 and 35%. Another study investigated the
et al. [12] used the TRNSYS simulation tool to investigate the application of green roofs in a university building located in Cosenza,
energy-saving potential of cool roofs in a low-rise commercial building Italy, leading to annual savings of approximately 34% [34]. A new green
in a Mediterranean climate. Their results showed a 33.8% savings in roof technology in Mediterranean climate was proposed by Ref. [35],
cooling energy demand. However, heating energy demand increased by which improves the building energy performance of traditional green
11%. Installing a cool roof on an institutional building in a warm climate roofs. Application of bio-solar green roofs installed in office buildings in
in India reduced average indoor air temperature by 1.06 ◦ C over a 24-h Sydney improved the solar panel energy output compared to conven­
period, according to a field study [13]. Costanzo et al. [14] reviewed tional solar roofs [36]. Cirrincione et al. [37] investigated the impact of
different algorithms for the calculation of the convective heat transfer green roofs on energy and indoor thermal comfort under both present
coefficient for cool roofs and investigated [15,16] the performance of a and future climate conditions for Luxembourg and Palermo, Italy. They
cool roof in an office building in three Italian cities with cold to hot found that up to 15% and 50% energy savings can be achieved by green
climates. It was observed that cool roofs with a solar reflectance of 0.85 roofs. An experimental study in a research institute building in Paris
can reduce up to 12% of the total annual energy need in the hot climate showed that green roofs reduced temperature and heat flux fluctuations
[15]. Kolokotroni et al. [17] indicated that cool roofs can improve at the building surface and did not have a negative effect on the surface
thermal comfort conditions in a typical single-storey building of urban heat island during winter [38]. A number of studies compared the
low-income households near the equator by 0.75–1.2 ◦ C. In another impact of cool and green roofs on building energy performance in
study, cool roofs combined with natural ventilation were identified as different climates [39–41]. Both cool and green roof are applied to roofs,
the best passive solution to improve the indoor environment for emer­ however, they employ different heat transfer mechanisms to improve
gency and temporary buildings [18]. Suehrcke et al. [19] studied the building thermal performance. Cool roofs reflect solar radiation while
impact of light-colored roofs in Townsville, Australia, with a hot humid green roofs affect building thermal performance through thermal insu­
summer, and a warm winter. It was found that light-colored roofs have lation, thermal mass, shading and evapotranspiration [42].
approximately 30% lower total heat gain than dark-colored ones. In addition to their cooling energy reduction potential, cool roofs
Another study in Egypt shows that a vaulted roof with high albedo can have proven to improve the efficiency of air conditioning systems [43,
reduce the cooling demand by 53% [20]. A comparison study showed 44], mitigate urban heat island effects [45–47], decrease heat wave
that insulated dynamic cool roofs can outperform green roofs in hot impacts [48], improve urban air quality [49] and reduce city-level en­
summer and cold winter cities in Iran [21]. The impact of a cool roof on ergy demand [50]. A comparison study between a cool roof and a green
the energy performance of a strip mall building was investigated in roof showed that cool roofs have a higher mitigation potential compared
Ref. [22]. To simulate the cool roof properties, a spectral-dependent to green roofs in Singapore [51]. Cool roofs’ benefits and limitations, as
model was developed. Their results showed that the annual total pri­ well as advancements in cool materials, have been reviewed in Refs.
mary energy consumption for heating and cooling increases up to 1.8% [52–55].
in Denver with a cool dry climate while it reduces up to 5.4% in Tampa As indicated in the literature review above, cool roofs have received
with a hot and humid climate. The impact of cool and green roofs on the extensive attention in recent years. Many simulations and field studies
energy use of an office building in London was investigated under both have investigated the energy-saving potential of cool roofs on buildings.
present and future climates. It was found that cool roofs lead to an However, the vast majority of these studies focused on the impacts of
annual energy penalty under the present climate, but they deliver en­ cool roofs on buildings under present climate conditions. Limited studies
ergy savings in the 2050 climate [23]. have investigated the energy-saving potential of cool roofs on buildings
Feng et al. [24] investigated the impact of cool and radiative cooling in the future. To the best of the author’s knowledge, no studies have yet
roofs in Darwin, Sydney, and Alice Springs, Australia. It was found that explored how the energy-saving potential of cool roofs may change over
in their case study building in Sydney and Alice Springs, the reduction in time in order to develop predictive models to identify when cool roofs
cooling load could not offset the increase in heating load. However, will offer annual energy savings for mild temperate climates in the
Darwin, with a cooling-dominated climate, can benefit from these roofs. future. Previous studies demonstrated that some energy conservation
Miller et al. [25] evaluated the impact of cool roofs on a residential strategies for a building may not be suitable under the present climate
building with different construction characteristics. It was found that conditions, but they may become efficient strategies in the future (and
cool roofs with a solar reflectance of 0.9 can reduce the peak demand by vice versa) [56,57]. Predicting when an adaptation strategy will be
10–40% on a hot summer day. Optimization algorithms were employed effective is critical to developing cost-effective and efficient adaptation
to identify the optimized values of a number of energy-saving measures, plans. Accordingly, this study aims to 1) quantify the energy savings (or
including roofs’ thermal properties under present and future climates energy penalties) of cool roofs under present climate conditions; 2)
[26,27]. Bamdad et al. [28,29] applied artificial neural networks to evaluate the energy-saving potential of cool roofs under future climate
identify the optimized values for building envelope variables, including conditions; and 3) predict when (and under which climate change sce­
the roof’s thermal reflectivity and emissivity, for commercial buildings narios) cool roofs will improve buildings’ thermal performance in the
in Australia. A roof with the minimum solar absorptance was identified future for cool or mild temperate climates. In the latter, this research
for the studied climates. The impact of cool roofs was investigated in 17 aims to predict when cool roofs may offer energy savings (i.e., cooling
different building types in major Australian cities for two summer load reductions exceed heating load penalties) in cool or mild temperate
months. Results showed that the cooling load saving potential of cool climates in the future. This research reports short-and long-term pre­
roofs can vary between 0.5% and 63.6% [30] Another study found that dictions of cool roof energy saving potential, which can be used as

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K. Bamdad Building and Environment 236 (2023) 110271

guidance to develop climate change mitigation and adaptation policies Table 1

for residential buildings in different climates in Australia. Building’s locations and their associated climates zones.
The remainder of this paper is structured as follows: The next section City Australian climate zones Köppen climate
details the research methodology, which includes building modeling Classification
and future weather files. In the results section, the impact of climate Darwin 1 (high humidity summer, warm Aw
change on the case study with and without a cool roof is presented, along winter)
with future analysis for mild temperate climates. The last section pre­ Brisbane 2 (warm humid summer, mild winter) Cfa
sents the conclusions of the research and proposes future work. Richmond 6 (mild temperate) Cfb
Melbourne 6 (mild temperate) Cfb
Canberra 7 (cool temperate) Cfb
2. Methodology Hobart 7 (cool temperate) Cfb

The methodology section details the building model employed as a

case study in this research and the future weather files used to project residential building in many studies in Australia [58–61]. This house has
future climate conditions. The overall methodological framework of this a brick exterior wall, which is a common construction type in Australia.
research is shown in Fig. 1. The cool roof’s impact is first evaluated To assess the impact of cool roofs on both old and new houses, two
under both present and future climate conditions. According to this insulation levels in the ceiling are considered. C1 has a total R value of
evaluation, three cases may occur. In the first case, the application of the 2.0 (m2 K/W), representing the medium insulation level in the ceiling,
cool roof is recommended if it improves the energy performance of the and C2 has a total R value of 4.0 (m2 K/W), representing the typical
building under present and future climate conditions. It is expected that insulation level in the ceiling in most new houses. The occupancy profile
if cool roofs save energy under current climate conditions, they will and schedules for equipment, lighting, and HVAC operating hours are
likely save even more energy in the future due to global warming. In the the same as those given by the NatHERS [62,63]. The cooling and
second case, cool roofs are not recommended if they do not improve heating thermostat settings, which vary for each city and are listed in
building energy performance under either present or future climate Table 3, are based on the Protocol for House Energy Rating Software
conditions. In the third case, when cool roofs have a negative impact on published by the Australian Building Codes Board [63]. Tables 1, 2 and 4
annual energy demand in the present climate and a positive impact in summarize the construction details and simulation assumptions of this
the future, further analyses are conducted to identify when applications house, and Fig. 2 renders the 3D model of the case study.
of cool roofs will be beneficial (the cooling reduction will be greater than In this study, the airflow network method implemented in Ener­
the heating penalty) in the future. gyPlus was used to define the infiltration rate [64,65]. The HVAC system
is an ideal load air system used to calculate the building’s heating and
2.1. Building modelling cooling demand. Also, a rule-based control algorithm was developed in
the EnergyPlus energy management system module using a runtime
The case study considered in this research is a detached single-story programming language (ERL) to control windows’ operation. In this
house simulated under different Australian climate zones (Table 1). The algorithm, whenever the outdoor air temperature is suitable, windows
house depicted in Fig. 2 represents a relatively large modern house and are opened, and the HVAC system shuts down. The acceptable indoor
has an air-conditioned floor area of approximately 215 m2, including temperature range is defined by the adaptive thermal comfort model
four bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a rumpus room, and non- with an 80% acceptability level. According to this model, occupants in
conditioned areas including a laundry, a separate bathroom, a toilet, naturally ventilated and mixed-mode buildings can adapt themselves to
and a garage. The house is one of the eight sample houses used for en­ thermal environments and tolerate a wider range of acceptable indoor
ergy rating software accreditation by the Nationwide House Energy thermal conditions. According to ASHRAE Standard 55 [66], the lower
Rating Scheme (NatHERS) and has been used as a case study of a and upper bounds of the adaptive thermal comfort model can be
calculated as follows:
( )
Tadp = Tpma × 0.31 + 17.8 ± 3.5◦ C (1)

where Tpma denotes the prevailing mean outdoor air temperature, and
the subscript i = 1,2 …,12 represents the calendar months. Tpma can be
approximated by taking the arithmetic mean outdoor air temperature
for each month in each climate zone [66]. The TMY weather files, which
contain hourly weather data, were used to calculate the upper and lower
limits of the adaptive thermal comfort model (the next section details
the weather files used in this study). These limits vary by month and city.
Additionally, it is predicted that these bounds will slightly rise for each
city in the future due to global warming. In this research, the cool roof
model has a solar reflectivity and an emissivity of 0.9, as opposed to the
conventional (dark) roof, which has a solar reflectivity of 0.25 and an
emissivity of 0.9.

2.2. Climate change

In this research, projected future weather files developed by the

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
were utilized [67] to examine the impact of climate change on the
energy-saving potential of cool roofs in residential buildings. These
future weather files were developed based on scenarios introduced in
the IPCC fifth assessment report [68], called Representative Concen­
Fig. 1. The methodological framework of this research. tration Pathways (RCPs), which project a range of possible future

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K. Bamdad Building and Environment 236 (2023) 110271

Fig. 2. Schematic view of the building model ([61]).

Table 2 Table 4
Building construction details. Building simulation inputs.
Envelope Construction details U-value [W/ Type Zone Schedule Value
component m2-K]
Lighting Living space [63] 3.75 W/m2
External walls External: Brick, insulation and plasterboard. 0.51 Bedrooms 1.25 W/m2
Internal: Plasterboard, brick, plasterboard. 1.69
Equipment Living space [63] 800 W (Latent: 1000 W)
Floor Concrete slab on ground, ceramic tiles, 0.45
Bedrooms 200 W (Latent: 1000 W)
carpet.
Ceilings C1: Plasterboard, bulk insulation (total R 0.49 Shading Living space & 0:00–7:00 Off
2.0). Bedrooms 7:00–18:00 On: Interior blinds are on
C2: Plasterboard, bulk insulation (total R 0.25 when the incident solar
4.0). exceeds 200 W/m2
Roof Continuous surface, metal deck roof. 18:00–24:00 Off
Solar reflectivity of dark roof: 0.25
Natural Changeover mode.
Solar reflectivity of cool roof: 0.9
Ventilation Windows are open (0.5 opening factor) and the HVAC system is off
Windows Single glazed windows. Internal blinds. No 5.89
when the outdoor air temperature is suitable for natural
external blinds.
ventilation (Eq. (1)).

Infiltration Airflow network [64]

Cracks: air mass flow coefficient 0.001 & 0.05 (kg/s)
Table 3 at reference conditions
Cooling and heating setpoints. Cracks: air mass flow exponent 0.65
Ground Monthly average temperatures using EnergyPlus Slab program
Zone type Time Heating setpoint (◦ C) Cooling setpoint (◦ C)
temperature
Living spaces 0:00–7:00 Not air conditioned Not air conditioned
7:00–24:00 20 Darwin: 26.5
Brisbane: 25.5 representative of a typical year for years between 2020 and 2039,
Richmond: 24.5
2040–2059, 2060–2079, and 2080–2099, respectively. These future
Melbourne: 24
Canberra: 24 weather files are freely available at (https://agdatashop.csiro.au/buildi
Hobart: 23 ng-energy). Please refer to Refs. [67,69] for more details.
Bedrooms 0:00–7:00 15 Same as living space
7:00–9:00 18 Same as living space 2.3. Cool roofs’ energy saving potential
9:00–16:00 Not air-conditioned Not air conditioned
16:00–24:00 18 Same as living space In this research, the energy-saving potential of cool roofs is calcu­
lated using the following question:
climates with different levels of GHG concentrations, which lead to (( ) ( ))
Hd,i − Hc,i + Cd,i − Cc,i
different radiative forcing values (an indicator representing the amount Ei = × 100 (2)
Hd,i + Cd,i
of energy imbalance in the atmosphere relative to pre-industrial times).
RCP 4.5 is a medium stabilization scenario in which the radiative forcing Where E, H and C denote the annual energy saving potential of the cool
value is stabilized at approximately 4.5 W/m2 after 2100, while RCP 8.5 roof, heating, and cooling thermal loads (demand) (MJ/m2. annum),
represents a future with a continuous rise in GHG concentrations and a respectively. Subscripts d, c, and i refer to the dark roof, cool roof, and
forcing value of 8.5 W/m2 by the end of the 21st century. To generate climate scenarios, respectively. Specifically, the subscript i represents
future weather data, CSIRO used the different global climate models the present, 2030, 2050, 2070, and 2090 climates in this study. It should
discussed in Ref. [67] with the input data of RCP scenarios along with a be noted that negative values for E mean that the installation of cool
statistical downscaling method [69]. The typical meteorological year roofs leads to an increase in the total cooling and heating loads of the
(TMY) weather data sets were extracted from historical weather data building for a given climate.
from 1990 to 2015 and used as the baseline weather files. It should be
noted that future weather files for 2030, 2050, 2070, and 2090 are

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3. Results

In this section, the impact of climate change on monthly mean

temperatures for six Australian cities is first presented. Then, the cooling
and heating loads of the building are presented under the present
climate and two future climate change scenarios. Section 3.2 delves
deeper into the future impact of cool roofs in cool and mild temperate
climates.

3.1. Future climate

Fig. 3 shows the monthly average temperature and projected tem­

perature rise for six cities in different climate zones in Australia
(Table 1). As shown for a given climate change scenario, the rise in the
monthly average temperature is not constant throughout the year and
varies for each city. For example, in Hobart, the minimum monthly air
temperature rise occurs in August with 1.5 ◦ C and 3.1 ◦ C under the RCP
4.5 and RCP 8.5 emission scenarios, respectively, while the maximum
Fig. 4. Simulated attic air temperature with the dark roof (in red) and cool roof
temperature rise is predicted to occur in February, reaching up to 4.9 ◦ C
(in blue). The outdoor air temperature and direct solar radiation are also
under the RCP 8.5 emission scenarios. Notably, under the RCP 8.5
plotted. Attic Infiltration rate is 1.18 ach (averaged day time) and the HVAC
emission scenario by 2090, the annual average temperature is projected
system in off. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend,
to increase by a range of 4.1–4.5 ◦ C for all cities except Darwin, with a the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
predicted temperature rise of around 3.7 ◦ C. The impact of climate
change on temperature rise in different Australian cities have been also
indoor spaces, resulting in an increase in the cooling load during the
discussed in Refs. [57–59,70].
summer and a decrease in the heating load during the winter. On the
other hand, in the case of the cool roof, the temperature difference be­
3.2. Cool roof impact on attic temperature tween the attic temperature and the outdoor ambient temperature is
small. As can be seen, the attic temperature is slightly lower than the
Fig. 4 shows the impact of the cool roof (CR) on the temperature outdoor ambient temperature before 9:00 a.m. and then becomes
profile in the attic on a sunny day for both C1 and C2. Outdoor air slightly higher, reaching up to a 2 ◦ C temperature increase around noon,
temperature and solar radiation are also plotted in these figures. Ener­ and therefore, only a very small amount of heat is transferred to indoor
gyPlus simulation software was used to simulate the attic’s temperature, spaces.
and the airflow network (AFN) module was employed to estimate the
infiltration rate in the attic [65]. AFN calculates infiltration rates based
on wind speed, temperature, surface cracks, and pressure differences at 3.3. Simulation results
each simulation time step. The average infiltration rate in the attic on
this day was estimated at 1.18 air changes per hour (ACH). As shown, The Australian National Construction Code (NCC) increased the
the attic temperature can reach a maximum of 52 ◦ C with the dark roof, minimum energy efficiency requirement from 5 to 6 stars in 2010, and
which is approximately 22 ◦ C higher than the ambient outdoor tem­ currently, new residential dwellings in most Australian states and ter­
perature. This heat is transferred from the ceiling to the building’s ritories require to achieve the 6 star rating [71]. In this study, in order to

Fig. 3. Monthly average temperature and projected temperature rise in Darwin, Brisbane, Richmond, Melbourne, Canberra, and Hobart.

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K. Bamdad Building and Environment 236 (2023) 110271

Fig. 5. Estimated energy star ratings of the building model in different cities.

estimate the star rating of the building model, the building is simulated m2 per annum) in Darwin, Brisbane, and Richmond, respectively. Fig. 6
based on NatHERS recommended simulation assumptions, as shown in also shows the impact of the cool roof on the annual cooling load for C2
Tables 3 and 4 Fig. 5 shows the estimated star rating for the building under present and future climate conditions. As expected, with an in­
with R 2.0 (C1) and R 4.0 (C2) insulation levels in the ceiling. The star crease in insulation, the cool roof’s cooling load reduction is reduced.
rating is calculated based on total cooling and heating loads. A heating The maximum cooling load reduction is around 34.6 and 52 (MJ/m2) for
(or cooling) load is the amount of heat energy that needs to be added to Darwin under present and future climate conditions, respectively. It
(or removed from) a space to keep the indoor temperature in a building should be noted that building’s cooling loads in Hobart are very small,
within the thermal comfort range. By improving the thermal perfor­ and cool roofs have a minimal impact on cooling loads, with only 2.4
mance of buildings (higher energy rating), less energy is required to be and 3.5 (MJ/m2) under present and RCP8.5, respectively.
consumed by cooling and heating systems to keep buildings thermally
comfortable. 3.5. Cool roof impact on heating loads
As can be seen, the building model represents buildings with an
estimated star rating of 5–6 stars for all cities except Darwin, which has Fig. 7 shows the impact of the cool roof on the annual heating loads
an estimated star rating of 6.5 and 6.9. It should be noted that the for C1 under present and future climate conditions. As shown, the cool
NatHERS simulation assumptions (e.g., thermostat setpoints) are con­ roof increases a building’s heating load up to 23.7 MJ/m2 under present
stant throughout the year for regulatory purposes, allowing dwelling climate conditions. The heating penalty decreases with global warming
designs to be compared fairly. However, these assumptions may not so that the maximum predicted heating penalties are approximately
accurately reflect occupants’ thermal preferences [72]. Thus, the con­ 13.3 and 10.9 MJ/m2 under the RCP8.5 scenario in Canberra and
stant thermostat setpoints are replaced with the setpoints obtained from Hobart, respectively. Fig. 7 also shows the impact of the cool roof on the
the adaptive thermal comfort model (Eq. (1)) in the rest of this research annual heating loads for C2 under present and future climate conditions.
to better reflect actual occupants’ thermal preferences in buildings. As expected, with an increase in insulation, the cool roof’s heating
penalty decreases. The maximum heating penalties are around 11.7 and
3.4. Cool roof impact on cooling loads 11.4 MJ/m2 under present climate conditions and 6.5 and 5.4 MJ/m2
under future climate conditions for Canberra and Hobart, respectively. It
Fig. 6 shows the impact of the cool roof on the annual cooling load should be noted that building’s heating loads in Darwin are almost zero,
for C1 under present and future climate conditions. It was found that the and there is no heating penalty associated with cooling roofs in this city.
cool roof reduces the building’s cooling load between 4.7 MJ/m2 Also, the heating load in Brisbane is predicted to be nearly zero under
(Hobart) and 38 MJ/m2 (Darwin) under present climate conditions. The RCP 8.5 future climate conditions.
cool roof’s cooling load reduction increases with global warming, so that
the maximum predicted reductions are about 86.9, 35.7, and 30.8 (MJ/

Fig. 6. Cool roof’s impact on annual cooling loads (C1: left and C2: right).

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K. Bamdad Building and Environment 236 (2023) 110271

Fig. 7. Cool roof’s impact on annual heating loads (C1: left and C2: right).

3.6. Cool roof impact on total loads buildings in Hobart will experience the maximum reduction in their
total cooling and heating energy requirements. This reduction will be
Figs. 8 and 9 show the total heating and cooling load in the case study around 27% and 45% under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios by
with the dark roof in six cities under present and future climate condi­ the 2090s, respectively. It should be noted that whilst these cities may
tions. Figs. 8 and 9 indicate the results for the cases of C1 and C2, benefit from global warming in terms of total cooling and heating energy
respectively. As expected for all cities, the energy demand for space needs, the impact of extreme weather conditions, which will happen
heating will decrease and the energy demand for space cooling will in­ more frequently and severely in the future, has not been investigated in
crease under both emission scenarios in the future. In Darwin, with a this study. It should also be noted that the energy demand for space
tropical climate, the energy demand for space heating is nearly zero heating in Canberra and Melbourne is much higher than for space
under present climate conditions, and it is estimated that the cooling cooling under present climate conditions. However, this will change in
energy will significantly increase by a factor of approximately 2.3 in the the future so that energy demand for space heating will be greater than
future under the RCP8.5 emission scenario in the 2090s. In Brisbane, space cooling under the RCP8.5 emission scenario in the 2090s.
with a humid subtropical climate, it is predicted that energy demand for Figs. 10 and 11 show the impact of the cool roof on the total annual
space heating will be approximately eliminated under both emission energy loads for space cooling and heating in the typical residential
scenarios in the future. However, the energy demand for space cooling house in different cities in Australia under two climate change scenarios.
will be remarkably increased by approximately 130% and 400% under In Figs. 10 and 11, the left figures present the cool roof’s energy saving
RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively. Under present climate conditions in potential in percentage, and the right figures indicate the results in (MJ/
Richmond, which has a mild temperate climate, the energy re­ m2) for a ceiling with two insulation levels, respectively. As shown in
quirements for space cooling and heating are approximately balanced. Darwin with a tropical climate, Brisbane with a subtropical climate, and
However, this trend will change noticeably in the future, so that only a Richmond with a mild temperate climate, cool roofs lead to noticeable
small amount of energy will be required for space heating under the energy savings under the present climate conditions. As can be seen, the
RCP8.5 emission scenario by the 2090s. It is projected that in Mel­ maximum energy saving can be achieved in Darwin by approximately
bourne, with a mild temperate climate, and in Canberra and Hobart, 14%, followed by Brisbane by nearly 5%. Importantly, using cool roofs
with a cool temperate climate, the total energy demand for space cooling in cold climates, including Canberra, Melbourne, and Hobart, leads to an
and heating would decline by the 2090s. It is estimated that residential increase in total cooling and heating energy demand in buildings since

Fig. 8. Energy demand for space heating and cooling under present and future climate conditions (ceiling insulation: C1).

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K. Bamdad Building and Environment 236 (2023) 110271

Fig. 9. Energy demand for space heating and cooling under present and future climate conditions (ceiling insulation: C2).

Fig. 10. Cool roofs’ impact on the total space cooling and heating energy demand in different cities (ceiling insulation: C1).

Fig. 11. Cool roofs’ impact on the total space cooling and heating energy demand in different cities (ceiling insulation: C2).

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K. Bamdad Building and Environment 236 (2023) 110271

heating penalties are greater than cooling benefits. This negative impact for Melbourne, as can be observed from the slop of the dotted lines in the
can lead to an increase of up to 10% in total energy demand for cooling figures. In Melbourne, cool roofs can offer approximately 1% energy
and heating in Hobart. savings under the RCP 8.5 emission scenario in the 2070s, and this po­
A comparison between Figs. 10 and 11 shows that the energy-saving tential can reach up to 4.5% by the 2090s. In Canberra, cool roofs begin
potential of cool roofs decreases as the thickness of the insulation layer to offer slight energy savings of around 1% under the high emission
in the ceiling increases (as expected). This decrease varies for each city. scenario in the 2050s. This potential, however, increases noticeably by
Under the present climate, the minimum and maximum energy demand the 2090s, reaching up to 8%. The linear trend lines in these figures
reductions as a result of an increase in insulation are in Brisbane (4.9 show the correlation between the energy-saving potential of cool roofs
MJ/m2) and Darwin (23.6 MJ/m2), respectively. Under RCP 8.5, Hobart and projected future climates based on twenty-year time intervals. It
(10.9 MJ/m2) and Darwin (39 MJ/m2) will have the minimum and should be noted that the p-values for all cases are smaller than 0.01. In
maximum energy demand reductions, respectively. these trend lines, regression coefficients (or slope coefficients) represent
Under future climate conditions, the positive impact of cool roofs on the mean change in the energy-saving potential of cool roofs for each
total cooling and heating energy demand is projected to reach up to time interval. For example, the regression coefficient for Canberra with
17%, 22%, and 19% for Darwin, Brisbane, and Richmond, respectively. C1 under RCP8.5 is 3.46, implying that for every twenty-year period in
Notably, under the RCP 8.5 emission scenario, the magnitude of energy the future, the energy saving potential of cool roofs should increase by
savings is projected to reach up to 86, 35, and 27 (MJ/m2) for Darwin, approximately 3.46%.
Brisbane, and Richmond, respectively, by the 2090s. However, unlike Table 5 presents the impact of climate change on the energy-saving
the present climate scenario, cool roofs have a positive impact on total potential of cool roofs for total space heating and cooling in Mel­
cooling and heating loads in Canberra and Melbourne in the future. This bourne and Canberra in the 2030s, 2050s, 2070s, and 2090s. The ratio of
impact, however, depends considerably on the climate change scenario. cooling to heating load for the case of the conventional roof (dark roof)
It is predicted that, under the RCP 8.5 emission scenario, residential for each scenario is also presented in parentheses in this table. As can be
buildings in both Canberra and Melbourne will benefit from cool roofs in seen, this ratio rises with global warming over time, so that the cooling
the 2090s. However, under the RCP 4.5 scenario, only Canberra will demand will become greater than the heating demand for both cities
benefit from cool roofs. Therefore, to better understand when this under the RCP 8.5 emission scenario by the 2090s. However, in a future
turning point in energy savings occurs, detailed analyses (for 2030, with the RCP 4.5 emission scenario, both cities will remain almost
2050, and 2070) are performed for these two cities in the next section. heating dominated. It should be noted that in this study when the
cooling to heating demand value becomes greater than approximately
3.7. Cool roofs in cool and mild temperate climates 0.6, the increased heating demand of cool roofs would be smaller than
the reduction of cooling demand, and thereby, cool roofs are able to
The Australian Building Codes Board classifies Australian climates reduce the total energy demand for space cooling and heating in these
into eight broad climate zones, in which Melbourne, with a mild cities.
temperate climate, and Canberra, with a cool temperate climate, fall into
climate zones six and seven, respectively. Under present climate con­ 4. Limitations
ditions, these cities are heating-dominated, and residential buildings
require significantly more energy for heating than cooling. The cooling In this study, the impact of cool roofs on heating, cooling, and total
to heating demand ratio of the case study in Melbourne and Canberra is loads has been investigated. The extent to which replacing a dark roof
approximately 0.2 and 0.3, respectively (Table 5). with a cool roof will decrease cooling energy load and increase heating
Figs. 12 and 13 illustrate the impact of climate change on total en­ energy load over the lifetime of buildings depends on building opera­
ergy load for space cooling and heating in the case study with the cool tion, building construction, present climate conditions, future climate
roof in Melbourne and Canberra in the 2030s, 2050s, 2070s, and 2090s. change scenarios, and the potential impact of climate change on the
As can be seen, cool roofs have a negative impact on total energy de­ building’s region. It should be noted that this research evaluates cool
mand for space cooling and heating under present climate conditions in roofs’ impact on the total energy loads. However, the actual amount of
both cities. As expected, the higher level of insulation in the ceiling energy (e.g., electricity, gas) consumed by cooling and heating systems
mitigates this negative impact. As a result of global warming, the is different from building loads and depends on other factors such as the
negative impact will improve in both cities, with a slightly slower pace efficiency (e.g., COP or EER) of cooling and heating systems and

Table 5
Cool roof’s impact on the total space cooling and heating demand in Melbourne and Canberra (the cooling to heating ratio is shown in
parentheses for the case of the dark roof).

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K. Bamdad Building and Environment 236 (2023) 110271

Fig. 12. Impact of climate change on cool roof’s energy saving potential in Melbourne (C1: left and C2: right).

Fig. 13. Impact of climate change on cool roof’s energy saving potential in Canberra (C1: left and C2: right).

occupants’ behaviour. Also, the UHI effect on the building has not been further increase in the insulation level in the ceiling, the cool roof’s
considered in this study. For buildings located in urban areas, UHI af­ energy-saving potential has been reduced, but it is still significant. For
fects the cool roof’s impact on buildings. Finally, any research studying mild temperate climates, the application of cool roofs should be care­
global warming has some degree of uncertainty that may come from fully examined case by case for a given location. In this study, it was
different sources, such as uncertainty in selected GCM models and found that houses in Richmond can benefit from cool roofs. However, in
emission scenarios. Further research with different emission scenarios is Melbourne, the cool roof’s heating penalty is greater than its cooling
encouraged to improve the degree of uncertainty in the prediction benefit. Moreover, neither Canberra nor Hobart, with a cool temperate
results. climate, can benefit from a cool roof under present climate conditions.
Under future climate conditions, the magnitude of the cool roof’s
5. Conclusion energy-saving potential will significantly increase in Darwin, Brisbane,
and Richmond, which have tropical, subtropical, and mild temperate
This study investigated the impact of cool roofs on the thermal climates, respectively. Unlike present climate conditions, the applica­
performance of a typical Australian house with an attic under both tion of cool roofs can reduce total cooling and heating energy loads in
present and future climate conditions. A rule-based control model based Canberra and Melbourne in the future. This study revealed that this
on the adaptive thermal comfort model was developed to control mixed- positive impact may begin in the 2050s and 2070s for Canberra and
mode ventilation in the building. The case study was modeled using two Melbourne, respectively, and can reach up to 4.5% and 8% under the
levels of insulation in the ceiling in six different Australian climates, RCP8.5 emission scenario by the 2090s. In Hobart, with its cool
ranging from cool temperate to hot tropical. Compared with a dark roof, temperate climate, it does not appear that cool roofs will offer energy
the application of cool roofs can reduce the total cooling and heating savings by the end of this century.
load by up to 14% in Darwin, which has a tropical climate. With a Realizing the present and future impacts of cool roofs is essential to

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K. Bamdad Building and Environment 236 (2023) 110271

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