Investigating climate-friendly roofs: The Reengineer Monitor #20

Ice roads, 3D-printed homes - and more!

Photo by Andy Underscore. Shared under a CC Licence.

Heating and cooling

Here’s another contribution to the “fabric first” debate. Researchers in Germany say the country’s least energy efficient buildings must be retrofitted with improved insulation before they can switch over to clean heating systems using heat pumps.

A very interesting new study on how the local built environment, and geographic location, impacts the efficacy of green and cool roofs was published this week. “The cooling effect becomes less noticeable with increasing building height, and open layouts are more conducive to roof-level strategies,” the authors note.