LAUSR

Abstract A thermal, environmental, and economic behavior study was performed for social housing in Mexico. This research focuses on the comparison between a traditional roof (TR) and a green roof (GR) under the weather conditions of eight cities in Mexico. The study was carried out by means of thermal simulations using the EnergyPlus software, which were validated with experimental data from two test boxes (TR and GR). For the validation of the simulations, the interior surface temperature and the heat flow of the roof of the test boxes were measured, and a maximum error of 3.55% and 2.17% was found for the interior surface temperature for the traditional and green roof, respectively. The results of the simulation showed that in locations with warm weather the GR reduced the indoor temperature of the house up to 4.7 °C. In locations with temperate weather, the GR reduced the cooling energy demand by up to 99%, and at the same time increased the heating energy demand by 25%. From the environmental study, it was found that the GR also reduced the CO2 by 45.7%. In the economic part, the GR had a payback period of 8.8 years, which makes the implementation of the green roof viable.