1. Green Roofs for Indoor Climate Control
Research Team
Team Member Office Phone Email
Annette D. Shine (PI) 261 Colburn Lab 831‐2010 shine@udel.edu
Aleksandr Nagorniy 359 Colburn Lab (718) 687‐8987 praanagorniy@aol.com
(REU researcher)
Jennifer Dunn (REU 359 Colburn Lab (913) 708‐1912 jldunn@ksu.com
Researcher)
Cathleen Kappel (RET 359 Colburn Lab kappelc@mac.com
ckappel@nccvt.k12.de.us
Researcher)
Michael Kittel (RET 359 Colburn Lab mkittel@nccvt.k12.de.us
Researcher)
Research Topic
GREEN ROOFS FOR INDOOR CLIMATE CONTROL
For much of the academic year, the Room 102 classroom in Colburn Laboratory in the College of
Engineering at the University of Delaware is an unpleasant place to learn and teach. Because the
classroom is located in a single‐story building, with a 40 foot south‐facing outside wall, the room is often
uncomfortably hot during the period from October to April, when no air conditioning is available. One
source of heat input into the room comes ultimately from solar radiation on the flat roof, which is a
gravel‐ballasted black membrane. Its low albedo (about 0.10) means that little of the incoming radiation
is reflected, so much of it heats up the roof surface.
We wish to ameliorate the indoor climate problem of Colburn 102 by installing a green roof atop the
classroom, in order to lower heat transmission from the roof. A group of students and faculty from the
Colleges of Engineering and Agriculture are designing the roof and pursuing funding for its installation.
When it is installed, the green roof will be a research tool for developing heat transfer models of green
roofs (Engineering) and for assessing the impact on local insect populations of native vs. non‐native flora
(Agriculture). This summer, we plan to install a web‐based rooftop monitoring station, which will
provide near‐continuous data on air, roof and classroom temperatures, rainfall, humidity and wind
speed. The data will give us a “before” snapshot of the impact of a green roof on indoor climate quality.
We will input this “before” data into numerical simulation of heat transfer in Colburn 102, based on
cooling models used for green roofs (Del Barrio 1998; Kumar and Kaushik 2005; Sailor 2008).
For their research, NISE teachers will help specify, purchase and install the monitoring system on the
Colburn roof. Examples of output from such a system can be seen at the website
https://www.hobolink.com/p/12b605145efd8ed0b2376bb37ddd0f92?q=livesystem_goldman_green_roof

2. By analyzing the recorded data, we hope to estimate the magnitude of the two blue arrows in Figure 1
below; the evaporation arrow will be determined from monitoring water pans and trial planting areas
on the roof. In particular, we will determine experimentally whether the Chilton‐Colburn analogy
correctly predicts the ratio of the size of the two arrows.
Following conclusion of the RET program, we hope to engage the classes of the teachers in the
implementation of, and subsequent research on, our Colburn Lab green roof.
Figure 1. Contributions to roof energy balance
Taken from:
Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Cities Conference, May 4‐6, 2005,
Washington, DC.
References

3. Del Barrio, E. P. (1998). "Analysis of the green roofs cooling potential in buildings." Energy and Buildings
27(2): 179‐193.
Kumar, R. and S. C. Kaushik (2005). "Performance evaluation of green roof and shading for thermal
protection of buildings." Building and Environment 40(11): 1505‐1511.
Sailor, D. J. (2008). "A green roof model for building energy simulation programs." Energy and Buildings
40(8): 1466‐1478.
Importance of Project
This project will help us develop engineering tools for evaluating the benefits of green roofs.
Background Materials and Related Research
See above references, plus these websites:
Useful Green Roof Links:
http://www.artic.edu/webspaces/greeninitiatives/greenroofs/main.htm
Best greenroof nursery:
http://www.greenroofplants.com/
Research on greenroofs at Michigan State:
http://www.hrt.msu.edu/greenroof/
NYT green roof articles:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/10/realestate/10green.html?_r=1&8hpib&oref=slogin
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/nyregion/28roof.html
Greenroof hardware:

4. http://www.greenroofproducts.com/
http://www.usconstructionfabrics.com/specs/composite/j‐d‐green.swf
Some new Philly greenroofs:
http://www.kyw1060.com/pages/2898247.php?
A Philly company that does intensive greenroofs:
http://www.roofmeadow.com/#
Modular greenroof company:
http://www.greengridroofs.com/
Claymont, DE retirement home greenroof:
http://www.greengridroofs.com/projects/institutional/projects_bnai.htm
Possible Research Approach and Anticipated Milestone Objectives
Researchers will purchase and install a remote monitoring station (temperatures, humidity) on the
Colburn Lab rooftop, in order to determine baseline performance “before” a green installation.
Objectives:
1) Specification and ordering of remote monitoring equipment
2) Mastery of Dimensional Analysis background
3) Experiment Design: determine how we can best experimentally determine heat transfer
from a green roof, using only a small area to represent the entire area
4) Experiment Implementation: Install Colburn Lab remote rooftop monitoring station
5) Data Analysis: Relate measured temperatures to evaporation rate; predict green roof energy
savings
6) Research Poster Construction, Final Report

5. Laboratory Organization and Meeting Schedule
Meeting times will be arranged based on mutual convenience and schedules. I require written project
reports every two weeks, including a final report.