Mitigating the cooling need and improvement of indoor conditions in Mediterranean educational buildings, by means of green roofs. Results of a case study

Indoor overheating risk and increased energy demand for cooling are becoming more and more frequent in the building sector of the Mediterranean area. In detail, for the reduction of the energy consumption of educational buildings, characterized by high endogenous gains, the particular boundary conditions affecting their use should be taken in consideration, and thus schedules of occupancy, wide necessity of air-changes for air quality. This paper, with reference to a case study, proposes deep investigations aimed at optimizing the annual energy performance of an educational building of the University of Sannio, located in the Southern Italy. A numerical model of the building has been designed and validated according to monitored data. Starting from the present scenario, after a complete refurbishment of the building envelope, the potentialities of several typologies of green roofs - by considering also the implementation of the adaptive approach in the comfort standard - have been tested. The scope is the optimization of the energy demand for the annual microclimatic control, by avoiding an energy-intensive operation of the air-conditioning devices during the warm season.