GREEN ROOFS – A SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION

Greening of the building envelope, green roofs as roof structures are a new technology and one of the segments of green construction that represent a modern approach to finding sustainable solutions. Their use:

  • Provides significant energy savings (especially when it comes to cooling the building);
  • Improves indoor comfort in buildings; and
  • Puts unused areas into the function of environmental protection.

B E N E F I T S OF U S E

ECONOMIC aspect

  • Money savings due to reduced energy consumption for cooling systems (during summer) and heating systems (during winter); they are excellent thermal insulation of the building (they retain heat in winter and cool in summer);
  • Savings due to the possibility of reducing standard insulation equipment and the use of cooling systems;
  • Reduction of costs for the removal of atmospheric waters;
  • Increase in the value of the real estate;
  • The lifespan of GR is twice as long compared to the lifespan of a conventional roof

(protects the roof structure from large temperature fluctuations);

  • Savings for the local community in terms of reducing the need for health services.

SOCIAL aspect

  • Provision of healthier living conditions (protection from pollution, noise);
  • Increase in the usable space in the building (useful area);
  • Increase in the aesthetic value of the object; they represent a pleasant and soothing sight;
  • Opportunities for rest and recreation; positively affect creativity and productivity;
  • Enabling the shaping of a space that blends in with the surroundings; Additional space for being in nature, and can also be a garden for growing edible plants; they are real oases for the flora and fauna;
  • Fire protection;
  • Creation of new jobs, initiation of supporting industry and education system.

ECOLOGICAL aspect

  • Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; absorbs 5kg CO2/m²/year;
  • Reduction of pollutants from the atmospheric air that negatively affect the ozone layer: NOx, SO2, CO, ground-level ozone O3, PM10;
  • Improvement of the global microclimate; decrease in the temperature of the roof surface and the surrounding air during the summer months (the effect of evapotranspiration: the process of oxygen production and water evaporation affects the temperature of the surrounding air);
  • Purification and improvement the quality of rainwater (N compounds, toxic metals: Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn);
  • Improvement of the air quality in the building;
  • Reduction of the risk of flooding (they act like a sponge that collects and slowly releases rainwater); reducing the load on the drainage system; and reduction of stormwater runoff (overflow). Water is retained in the substrate and then taken from the plants and returned to the atmosphere through the process of transpiration and evapotranspiration; in summer GR retains 70-90% of precipitation and in winter between 25-40%;
  • Development of biodiversity;
  • Reduction of the impact of “urban heat islands”.

LABORATORY FOR THERMAL ENGINEERING AND ENERGY RESEARCH TEAM

FACE THE FOLLOWING INVESTIGATION

  • Analysis of the impact and benefits of placing green areas on the roofs of buildings in order to put unused areas in urban areas into the function of environmental protection;
  • Experimental tests on the roof of the school building in New Belgrade, where an extensive green roof of 40m2 was installed, with the aim of investigating the impact of the extensive green roof on the energy characteristics and energy efficiency of the building and the quality of the surrounding air, in winter and summer mode;
  • Quantifying and evaluating the energy efficiency of a school building using the DesignBuilder program paired with the EnergyPlus simulation engine to determine the building’s heating and cooling energy consumption in the case of a conventional roof and an extensive green roof;
  • Demonstration and raising awareness of green roofs as a passive measure in solving problems both at the object level and at the urban level (reduction of the required energy for cooling and heating, reduction of air pollution, improvement of biodiversity, ..);

R E F E R E N C E

  1. Danka Kostadinović, Marina Jovanović, Vukman Bakić, Nenad Stepanić, Maja Todorović, Experimental investigation of summer thermal performance of the green roof system with mineral wool substrate, Building and Environment, Volume 217, 1 June 2022, 109061
  2. Danka M. Kostadinović, Dragana G. Dimitrijević Jovanović, Biljana S. Vučićević, Marina P. Jovanović, Snežana M. Konjikušić, Smart capacitive moisture sensor calibration in mineral wool and green roof soil substrate, Thermal Science, 2021, Vol. 25, No. 3A, pp. 1827-1836
  3. Žana Stevanović, Danka Kostadinović, Marina Jovanović, Vukman Bakić, Nenad Stepanić, Uticaj mehanizma lakog zelenog krova na kvalitet spoljašnjeg vazduha (The impact of green-roof on urban air quality), KGH, year. 50 No. 4 (2021), pp. 49-52
  4. Biljana Vučićević, Danka Kostadinović, Nenad Stepanić, Marina Jovanović, and Valentina Turanjanin, Investigation of Green Roof Thermal Performance in the Summer Period, 19th International Conference on Thermal Science and Engineering of Serbia, Sokobanja, Serbia, 2019, pp.121-125
  5. Danka Kostadinović, Marina Jovanović, Biljana Vučićević, Nikola Mirkov and Valentina Turanjanin, The Impact of School Building Green Roof on Outdoor Air Pollution, 19th International Conference on Thermal Science and Engineering of Serbia, Sokobanja, Serbia, 2019, pp.748–754
  6. Dragana Dimitrijević Jovanović, Danka Kostadinović, Predrag Živković, Dušan Ranđelović, Green living roofs as a part of green infrastructure, Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on Urban Planning – ICUP, 12-13.11.2020, Niš, Pages 171-178.
  7. Žana Stevanović, Danka Kostadinović, Marina Jovanović,Vukman Bakić, NenadStepanić, The impact of green-roof on urban air quality, 52nd International Congress & Exhibition on heating, refrigeration and air-conditioning, Proceedings, held on December 1-2, 2021, Belgrade, Serbia, pp.25-32
  8. Danka Kostadinović, Marina Jovanović, Vukman Bakić, Nenad Stepanić, Žana Stevanović, Mitigation of Urban Particulate Pollution Using Lightweight Green Roof System, 5th South East Europian Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environmental Systems, 22-26 May 2022 in Vlorë, Albania, pp.0048-1:0048-19
  9. Žana Ž. Stevanović, Danka Kostadinović, Marina Jovanović, Vukman Bakić, Spatial uniformity of thermal conditions in public buildings, 5th South East Europian Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environmental Systems, 22-26 May 2022 in Vlorë, Albania, pp.0032-1:0032-15
  10. Dragana Dimitrijević Jovanović, Danka Kostadinović, Dušan Ranđelović, Marina Jovanović, Vukman Bakić, Integration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Building Energy Modeling (BEM): School Building Case Study, The 20th International Conference on Thermal Science and Engineering of Serbia-SIMTERM, Niš, Serbia October 2022

PhD T h e s i s

Danka Kostadinović, The influence of the green roof on the energy characteristics and energy efficiency of the school building as a modern approach in finding sustainable solutions, The University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Beograd, Srbija, (in process)

The scientific investigation is performed in the scope of the research theme1402204:

”Development and validation of new technologies in building construction to increase the energy efficiency of buildings and improve the quality of urban environments”