Effect of Aging on Solar Reflectance of White Cool Roof Coatings: Natural Weathering and the Influence on Building Energy Needs for Different Climate Conditions in Brazil
Abstract:The use of cool materials on the building envelope is one of the most cost-effective ways to increase indoor thermal comfort conditions in hot climates and decrease the cooling energy needs. Despite the benefit of reducing cooling loads, researches have demonstrated that aging of roof coatings changes the initial SR, which influences the long term building thermal and energy performance. Thus, this work presents preliminary natural weathering tests performed on samples of nine white coatings exposed to natural… Show more
“…In Brazil, several studies have been reported by [9,15,16,[25][26][27][28][29], with ongoing research being carried out by the members of the University of São Paulo and Federal University of Santa Catarina. In the studies proposed by [15], a white cool paint was exposed in 4 cities of the country (São Paulo, Pirassununga, Belém and São Sebastião) and presented different levels of degradation between the sites, caused by different weather conditions, microflora, and pollutants.…”
As an alternative to mitigate the urban heat island effect, materials known as “cool surfaces” are a suitable passive technology for reducing heat transmittance into buildings and diminishing the electricity demand for cooling. However, due to ageing, the performance of cool surfaces becomes less effective, with decreasing solar reflectance generated by dust accumulation and microbial growth. However, there is little literature on the subject and the data usually present a local perspective in durability which makes harder to compare with other cases. This research conducted a systematic review on works approaching natural ageing of highly reflective materials to identify the main factors that influence the albedo durability of cool surfaces. The main factors found were macroclimate, microclimate, the tilt of exposure, materials characteristics, and substrate. The data analyses conducted in this research highlight the importance of having a general perspective when studying reflectance durability, since agents that don’t seem relevant when evaluating a local case can be important when comparing the general figure. The inspection promoted by this study might help future research to better analyse their results and connect the diffuse knowledge in the current state of the art.
“…In Brazil, several studies have been reported by [9,15,16,[25][26][27][28][29], with ongoing research being carried out by the members of the University of São Paulo and Federal University of Santa Catarina. In the studies proposed by [15], a white cool paint was exposed in 4 cities of the country (São Paulo, Pirassununga, Belém and São Sebastião) and presented different levels of degradation between the sites, caused by different weather conditions, microflora, and pollutants.…”
As an alternative to mitigate the urban heat island effect, materials known as “cool surfaces” are a suitable passive technology for reducing heat transmittance into buildings and diminishing the electricity demand for cooling. However, due to ageing, the performance of cool surfaces becomes less effective, with decreasing solar reflectance generated by dust accumulation and microbial growth. However, there is little literature on the subject and the data usually present a local perspective in durability which makes harder to compare with other cases. This research conducted a systematic review on works approaching natural ageing of highly reflective materials to identify the main factors that influence the albedo durability of cool surfaces. The main factors found were macroclimate, microclimate, the tilt of exposure, materials characteristics, and substrate. The data analyses conducted in this research highlight the importance of having a general perspective when studying reflectance durability, since agents that don’t seem relevant when evaluating a local case can be important when comparing the general figure. The inspection promoted by this study might help future research to better analyse their results and connect the diffuse knowledge in the current state of the art.
Resumo O uso de materiais de baixa absortância solar no envelope construtivo tem se mostrado uma estratégia eficaz para otimizar o desempenho termoenergético de edificações em locais com alta incidência de radiação solar. No entanto, a capacidade refletiva dos revestimentos se modifica ao longo do tempo, devido à degradação pela ação das intempéries e à deposição de material particulado, com prejuízos ao desempenho térmico da vedação ao longo de sua vida útil. Assim, determinar os efeitos da degradação da absortância solar tornou-se primordial para prever a capacidade de manutenção das propriedades refletivas de telhas e tintas com o tempo. Com o objetivo de contribuir com pesquisas nessa temática, este artigo apresenta o projeto, construção e operação de uma estação de envelhecimento natural para avaliação da degradação da absortância solar de telhas e revestimentos expostos ao tempo, em conjunto com o monitoramento simultâneo e contínuo de temperaturas superficiais com termopares. Os resultados obtidos para 28 telhas expostas por 2 anos indicam forte correlação (R² = 0,81) entre as temperaturas superficiais e a absortância solar ao longo do tempo, assim como o potencial de uso da estação de envelhecimento natural para análise conjunta da degradação da absortância e o desempenho térmico dos revestimentos.
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