Special Issue "Green Roofs: Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Environment"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Gianluca Scaccianoce
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
Interests: energy efficiency in buildings; indoor thermal comfort; green roofs; sustainable materials for the construction sector; atmospheric pollution; renewable energy sources; sustainable urban mobility
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Giorgia Peri
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
Interests: energy efficiency in buildings; indoor thermal comfort; green roofs; environmental sustainability in the building sector; life cycle assessment; environmental labeling; sustainable urban mobility
Dr. Laura Cirrincione
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
Interests: energy efficiency in buildings; indoor thermal comfort; green roofs; life cycle assessment; lighting

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The building sector is responsible for almost 40% of both energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Improving the energy efficiency and reducing the environmental pressures due to buildings are thus two of the main goals of world environmental policies for a low-carbon society and a sustainable development. These two goals should be attained without compromising indoor comfort conditions; rather, the rehabilitated or retrofitted building should also guarantee major climate resilience.

This framework calls for innovative solutions in conceiving the building envelope and its energy systems. Among envelope’s technologies, green roofs are increasingly gaining in popularity because, in addition to the several environmental and economic benefits they offer, they are capable of reducing climatization’s energy needs, especially in summer, also enhancing indoor comfort levels.

Nonetheless, some limits still affect the energy modeling and environmental and economic analyses of these components. For instance, a proper database of values of parameters required by mathematical procedures to properly model the energy performance of buildings with a green roof is absent; the current one is, e.g., limited to few plant species and with rather large value ranges . Additionally, the available data to model the green roof life cycle are still limited. The disposal phase of this component represents one of the biggest limitations because there is neither an in-force practice nor a specific normative standard yet. Likewise, cost–benefit analyses of green roofs, which are essential for assessing the advantages of this technology compared with others, are still rather limited.

High-quality papers addressing the above-mentioned issues, though not limited to them, are solicited for this Special Issue, with particular interest in theoretical and experimental analyses aiming to provide new methods, new indicators, or new data useful for more reliable energy modeling and for better understanding of the actual environmental impact and cost of this technology.

Prof. Dr. Gianluca Scaccianoce
Dr. Giorgia Peri
Dr. Laura Cirrincione
Guest Editors

Keywords

  • green roofs and smart cities
  • green roofs and climate resilience
  • energy efficiency of buildings with green roofs
  • mathematical models of green roofs
  • models of intercanopy heat exchange
  • geometrical and thermophysical parameters of vegetation layer
  • disposal phase of green roof
  • LCA of green roof
  • LCC of green roof
  • green roof and cool roof
  • smart energy planning with green roof
  • heat urban island and green roof
  • future impact of green roof
  • sustainability assessment and policies
  • governance
  • social aspect and energy efficiency

Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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