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

Authors

  • Kelen Almeida Dornelles University of Sao Paulo (USP), Institute of Architecture and Urbanism, Avenida Trabalhador São-Carlense, 400, Centro – São Carlos, Brazil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jaeser.v4i2.2812

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 solar reflectance (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 weathering for one year in the city of Sao Carlos, Brazil. Solar reflectances were measured with a spectrophotometer before and after exposure, every 3 months, for identifying the effect of aging along the time. The findings showed changes of 13% to 23% on SR after one year of natural weathering, with higher decrease on SR for rougher surfaces. The cleaning process restored from 90% to 100% of the original SR, which means maintenance can be an effective solution to restore the initial SR. Simulations indicated that roofs with higher solar reflectance increase indoor thermal comfort conditions and decrease the cooling energy need for buildings in hot climates, but the aging of white coatings increased the cooling energy needs along the time

Keywords:

Roof solar reflectance; Aging; Natural weathering; Cleaning process; Thermal comfort; Energy savings; Tropical climate

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How to Cite

Dornelles, K. A. (2021). 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. Journal of Architectural Environment & Structural Engineering Research, 4(2), 8–19. https://doi.org/10.30564/jaeser.v4i2.2812

Issue

Vol. 4 , Iss. 2 (April 2021)

Article Type

Article

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Copyright © 2021 Kelen Almeida Dornelles

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

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