Assessing Water Demand of Green Roofs
Under Variants of Climate Change
Scenarios
Matteo Fiori, Tiziana Poli, Andrea G. Mainini, Juan Diego Blanco Cadena,
Alberto Speroni and Daniele Bocchiola
Abstract Green roofs are a resource for the city: they mitigate pollution, decrease
the urban heat island effect (UHI), and regulate storm runoff. Within a climate change
scenario, green roofs might instead become an issue, and in particular, in mitigating
UHI at mesoscale level. The aim of the contribution is to define the water balance
and thus the water consumption of a typical green roof, considering its variation
when immersed into different climate scenarios that took place in the past five years
(Linked with the following research projects: (1) Research title: 2016, Fondazione
Minoprio/Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento ABC (ongoing), Research type: Convention, Responsible: Matteo Fiori. (2) Research title: 2018, Harpo Contract (ongoing), Research type: Funded by third parties, Responsible: Matteo Fiori. (3) Research
title: 2018, Soprema Contract (ongoing), Research type: Funded by third parties,
Responsible: Matteo Fiori. (4) Research title: 2018, ASSIMP T-dry Contract (ongoing), Research type: Funded by third parties, Responsible: Matteo Fiori).
Keywords Climate change · Green roof · Sustainable water management
1 Green Roof Water Demand and Climate Change
The content of water in green roofs affects the thermal performance of the roof surface
layer, given the modified conductivity of the ground layer and the evaporative effect
generated by the water state change. Green roofs have proven to be a good strategy for
reducing the urban heat island effect, the storm water runoff in low water permeability
surfaces areas, air pollutant concentrations, plus the reduction of solar gains from
the roof exposure (Demuzere et al. 2014).
M. Fiori · T. Poli (B) · A. G. Mainini · J. D. Blanco Cadena · A. Speroni
Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering—ABC Department, Politecnico di
Milano, Milan, Italy
D. Bocchiola
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering—DICA, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
© The Author(s) 2020
S. Della Torre et al. (eds.), Regeneration of the Built Environment
from a Circular Economy Perspective, Research for Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33256-3_35
375
Under Variants of Climate Change
Scenarios
Matteo Fiori, Tiziana Poli, Andrea G. Mainini, Juan Diego Blanco Cadena,
Alberto Speroni and Daniele Bocchiola
Abstract Green roofs are a resource for the city: they mitigate pollution, decrease
the urban heat island effect (UHI), and regulate storm runoff. Within a climate change
scenario, green roofs might instead become an issue, and in particular, in mitigating
UHI at mesoscale level. The aim of the contribution is to define the water balance
and thus the water consumption of a typical green roof, considering its variation
when immersed into different climate scenarios that took place in the past five years
(Linked with the following research projects: (1) Research title: 2016, Fondazione
Minoprio/Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento ABC (ongoing), Research type: Convention, Responsible: Matteo Fiori. (2) Research title: 2018, Harpo Contract (ongoing), Research type: Funded by third parties, Responsible: Matteo Fiori. (3) Research
title: 2018, Soprema Contract (ongoing), Research type: Funded by third parties,
Responsible: Matteo Fiori. (4) Research title: 2018, ASSIMP T-dry Contract (ongoing), Research type: Funded by third parties, Responsible: Matteo Fiori).
Keywords Climate change · Green roof · Sustainable water management
1 Green Roof Water Demand and Climate Change
The content of water in green roofs affects the thermal performance of the roof surface
layer, given the modified conductivity of the ground layer and the evaporative effect
generated by the water state change. Green roofs have proven to be a good strategy for
reducing the urban heat island effect, the storm water runoff in low water permeability
surfaces areas, air pollutant concentrations, plus the reduction of solar gains from
the roof exposure (Demuzere et al. 2014).
M. Fiori · T. Poli (B) · A. G. Mainini · J. D. Blanco Cadena · A. Speroni
Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering—ABC Department, Politecnico di
Milano, Milan, Italy
D. Bocchiola
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering—DICA, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
© The Author(s) 2020
S. Della Torre et al. (eds.), Regeneration of the Built Environment
from a Circular Economy Perspective, Research for Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33256-3_35
375