The impact of cool roofs on energy consumption of office buildings in Chongqing of China

Cool roofs are characterized by high solar reflectance (SR) and high infrared emittance (E). When cool roofs are exposed to solar radiation, it will have a lower surface temperature compared to a similar surface with lower SR and E values, and this would result in decreasing the heat penetrating into the building. Cool roofs offer significant cooling energy savings in buildings with air conditioning. In order to quantify the influence of cool roofs on the energy consumption of office buildings in Chongqing, the authors tested the electricity consumptions of air conditioners in two rooms on the top floor of an office building. One of the rooms was with cooling roof installed. The result shows that in summer, the room with cooling roof saved electricity 0.049kWh per square meter per day. However in winter, it increased electricity consumption by 0.012kWh per square meter per day. © Gao et al.