Cool Roof Impact on Thermal Comfort and Temperature Range Effect on Energy Consumption in Tropical Climates

Abstract

This research examines the impact of cool roofs on thermal comfort and energy consumption in Conakry, Guinea, which has a hot and humid tropical climate. A dynamic simulation using the TRNSYS-CONTAM coupling was performed on a typical residential building. Results from the reference building showed high indoor temperatures, with a 57% discomfort rate in the living room zone. Applying a cool roof with an absorption coefficient of 0.3 reduced the roof surface temperature by 15°C. The living room operative temperature also decreased by 2.4°C, and the discomfort rate dropped to 33%. The study also compares annual cooling loads according to two different temperature setpoint ranges. The results show that using the fixed setpoint defined by the ISO-7730 standard leads to an increase of 38% in air conditioning load compared to the adaptive setpoint ISO-15251.