Criteria for selecting standards days for thermal analysis of green roofs in tropical climates

Abstract

Accelerated urbanization has led to a series of environmental challenges, such as the formation of urban heat islands and excessive soil impermeabilization, resulting in negative impacts on the thermal comfort of buildings. Green roofs emerge as a potential solution to reduce both urban and building temperatures. Therefore, studies on thermal performance analysis of green roofs in tropical climates are justified. In a thermal analysis, the Brazilian standard ABNT NBR 15575/2013 recommends selecting a typical summer and winter design day to assess thermal performance. This study aims to propose a method for selecting typical days for each of the four seasons of the year, based on three meteorological criteria: absence of precipitation, high solar radiation, and large thermal amplitudes. To achieve this, daily climate data from the meteorological station in Xerém, Rio de Janeiro, collected in 2023, were analyzed. The proposed methodology was applied, successfully generating a typical day for each of the climatic seasons. This study contributes to the expansion of knowledge on the thermal performance of this system in tropical climate conditions, serving as a basis for the analysis of experimental data and comfort conditions, allowing for the comparison of all climatic seasons.