Impact of green wall and roof applications on energy consumption and thermal comfort for climate resilient buildings

Nowadays, reducing energy consumption and obtaining thermal comfort are significant for making educational buildings more climate resilient, more sustainable and more comfortable. To achieve these goals, one of the sustainable passive methods is applying green wall and roof that provide extra thermal insulation, evaporative cooling, shadowing effect and blockage of wind on buildings. Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of green wall and roof applications on energy consumption and thermal comfort in an educational building. For this purpose, a university building in Csb climate zone is selected and monitored during one-year, as a case study. Then, the case building is modelled in a well-calibrated dynamic building energy simulation tool and twenty-one different plant species, which are mostly used for green wall and roof are applied to the envelope of the building in order to determine reduction in energy consumption and increase in thermal comfort. Hedera Canariensis Gomera (an ivy species) plant is used for green walls due to its aesthetic appeal, versatility, and functional benefits while twenty-one different plants including Ophiopogon Japonicus (Mando-Grass), Phyllanthus Bourgeoisii (Waterfall Plant) and Phoenix Roebelenii (Phoenix Palm) are simulated for the green roof applications. The results show that deploying Hedera Canariensis Gomera to the walls and Phyllanthus Bourgeoisii to the roof could simultaneously reduce energy consumption by 9.31% and increase thermal comfort by 23.55% in the case building.