Thermal Performance of Setcreacea purpurea and Portulaca grandifora as a Green Roof Material Applied in a Tropical Climate
D. Nyame-Tawiah *
Department of Architecture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
L. Atuah
Department of Horticulture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
P. K. Tandoh
Department of Horticulture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The main objective of this paper is to present results on experimental fields about Green Roofs using two different plant materials such as Setcreasea purpurea and Portulaca grandiflora. It also describes how Green Roof is constructed in a tropical environment using available sustainable materials with the focus on Succulent plants. A Randomized Complete Design with three replications was used for the study. The main methodological procedure for collection of data was the installation of data loggers in nine (9) experimental test cells for (ten)10 months starting from November and ending August 2016 to record temperature and relative humidity in a time step of 6 (10 minutes). The experimental results shows that Succulent (Setcreacea purpurea) plants has the potential to reduce peak indoor temperature as compared to herbaceous plants such as Portulaca grandiflora. Setcresea purpurea recorded the lowest temperature throughout the whole year. The study concluded that a reduction in mean temperature is 0.39°C annually (P≤0.05).
Keywords: Thermal performance, green roofs and tropical climate.