Euro-Mediterranean Project – Technical File: RUE / BU / No. 01
General information
Project title:
Location
Year of approval
Sector
Programme
Reference no.
Roof solutions for natural cooling
Spain / France / Italy / Greece / UK
1996
BU
4th Framework Programme – NNE JOULE C
JOR 3960074
Co-ordinator, partners and suppliers
Organisation: Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales
Co-ordinator
Address
City, post code, country
Telephone no.
Telefax no.
Contact person
Roles
Contractor
Address
City, post code, country
Roles
Contractor
Address
City, post code, country
Roles
Partner
Address
City, post code, country
Roles
Partner
Address
City, post code, country
y Tecnológicas, Department: Instituto de Energías Renovables
(CIEMAT)
22 Avda Complutense, PO Box 22
Madrid, 28040, Almeria, SPAIN
+34 91 346 6344
+34 91 346 6037
TELLEZ, Felix Maria


Co-ordination
Leader of Task 3 (Development and testing of cooling roof
prototypes).
 Design and development of an evaporative roof prototype.
 Contributions to the other tasks.
Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Groupe Informatique et
Systèmes Energétiques
ENPC 6 av. Blaise Pascal
Marne la Vallée, F-77455, FRANCE

Leader of task 2.(Modelling Cooling Roofs and Design
tool development.)
 Development of most of the prototypes' physical models.
 Contributions to other tasks.
Universidad de Málaga, Departamento de Engenheria Mecanica
yEnergetica
Plaza El Egido
City: Málaga, 29013, SPAIN

Leader of task 4 (Analysis of cooling potentials and
applicability maps for the cooling roof prototypes.)
 Development of an interactive applicability atlas.
 Contributions to the other tasks.
CONPHOEBUS, Instituto di Ricerche per le Energie Rinnovabili ed il
Resparmio Energetico.
Zona Industriale Passo Martino Piano d'Arci
Catania, 95030, SICILIA, ITALY

Development of an evaporative wet sand based roof
prototype over a traditional concrete slab.
 Contributions to other tasks.
Centre for Renewable Energy Sources, Passive Solar and Hybrid
Systems Programme
KM 19TH Marathonos Avenue
Pikermi, 19009, ATTIKI, GREECE
Roles
Partner
Address
City, post code, country

Development of an radiative based roof prototype using
metallic tubes over a concrete slab with buried pipes.
 Contributions to other tasks.
School of Architecture, Environment and Energy Studies Programme
Graduate School
34-36 Bedford Square
London, WC1B 3ES, UNITED KINGDOM

Partner
Address
City, post code, country
Roles
Leader of task 1 ( Roof solutions for natural cooling.
Design handbook and directory.
 Design and edition of the handbook.
 Contributions to other tasks.
CDAUP, The Center for Desert Architecture and Urban Planning. The
J. Blaustein Institute for Desert Research. Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev
Midreshet
Sede-Boker, 84993, ISRAEL



Development of two radiative based roof prototypes using
policarbonated and PVC radiators connected to roof ponds
over conventional flat roof slabs.
Development of an evaporative roof with sprays control
connected to roof ponds over conventional flat roof slabs.
Combining direct and indirect evaporative cooling.
Contributions to other tasks.
Aims and objectives
The two main R&D objectives of this project are:
The creation of Design information in which energy performance indices will accompany a
classification of roof solutions and components feasible for the Mediterranean area.
To provide valuable examples at real scale of roof components together with a thorough analysis on
performance and on its potentialities for saving energy in a diversity of localities (climates) across the
Mediterranean area.
Situation of the project
Description
The cooling roof prototypes were constructed, tested and evaluated. The mathematical roof models were
tested against the generated data. For each of the cooling techniques analysed, (radiative cooling,
evaporative cooling and green roofs), the Roofsol project has developed a complete set of applicability
maps throughout the north Mediterranean region. A Roof Design Handbook was developed. It included
the design physical principles, real solutions examples as implemented throughout the world and a
detailed description of the Roofsol prototypes' behaviour.
Phase of advancement
Completed
Dates of beginning and conclusion
Start: 1996 04 01 End: 1998 05 31
Innovative technology (if foreseen)
The five roof solutions designed and evaluated within the project were innovative in some aspect. The
first improvement with respect to previous roof designs, is that all prototypes were based in cheap
technological design and where, nevertheless, the materials choice combined with correct design and
adequate process control, took the biggest advantage possible of the energy sinks climatologically
available. For example the radiative cooling prototypes have been designed using several materials for
the radiative component, for example standard out of the shelf double glazed polycarbonated sheet,
which were not used for this purpose before and which showed to be a good candidate as a radiative
cooling emitter. Another example of a design which proved to have a significant cooling capacity,
though the effect of evaporation, was the inclusion of a water reservoir under the conventional
substrates of a green cover. In the other components the project contribution can be summarised as the
modelling and quantification of the cooling capacity of the different design combinations.
Supplier Country, town
There are two Spanish companies which are commercialising the green roofs evaluated within Roofsol,
but designed by themselves. The installation of these green roofs types since 1998, either in existing or
in new buildings, amount more than 50 buildings, mainly of commercial or institutional type.
Open field for photos and graphic material
Results and achievements
 Energy saving projects, substitution projects, power production projects
Depending on the environmental conditions the roof solutions tested in the project showed a cooling
capacity ranges from 50 to 150 Watts per Sq. meter. This will abound in energy savings for summertime
conditions where cooling is required in most of the Mediterranean region.
 Environmental and social impact
All prototypes designed and tested within the project are based on natural cooling techniques. Hence
aimed towards conventional fuels savings under summer conditions which implies the reduction of CO 2
and SO2 emmisions.

Economic data
Roofsol was contracted as an information package project, as a result, the main products were the
handbook, the mathematical modelling of the roof solutions, applicability maps and the prototypes
development as a demonstration of the potentialities.
The only marketable prototypes evaluated within the project, were designed by companies with no
support from the EC Commission but linked to the project through a no cost agreement.
Thus there is no clear investment or payback to report.
Co-operation data
Potential application
Due to the orientation of the project (development of an information package ), the main contributions to
other projects or to the industrial world can be summarised in:
 Mathematical models:
 Written in Neutral Model Format might be directly integrated in modular building simulation
tools, like TRNSYS, SPARK, M2M, etc.
 Potential exploitation for sensitivity analysis.
 Applicability design maps tool:
 First guide to decide over the pertinence of a cooling roof technique in a certain geographical
area.
 Useful to promote regional cooling roofs development strategies.
 Roof Design handbook::
 Edited for constructors and architects, it gives them concepts, examples and design methods.

General comments
Additional information was provided by the project leader:
- A summary of the project according to this evaluation sheet.
The contact persons, who also provided the information, draw these comments.
The project can be considered a success since almost all the products promised within the contract have
been carried out.
The management: The task leaders' help has been more than adequate in the technical aspects. A
significant effort has been spent in order to speed up the purchases related to the
construction and instrumentation of the roof prototypes. The nevertheless
resulting delay is due to the fact that most of the prototypes builders belonged to
public institutions, which introduce plenty of bureaucracy.
The Co-operation experience: The co-operation experience among the participants was very
satisfactory. Thanks to the project some of the participants have
developed more stable collaboration agreements.
Funding and eventual OPET support: There was no OPET support in the project. The funding was
partially supplied by the Commission and partially
supplied by the partners.
Other Promotional measures:
 Participation in the seminars organised by the ETSIA - Madrid,
 Several paper publications,
 Introduction of the new developments in the courses imparted by the EESP-AAGS and the
CIEMAT.
Contact person for further information
Felix Téllez, and Guillermo Schwartz
Name
Telephone no.
+34 91 346 6629 or 6344
Telefax no.
+34 91 346 6037