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com
Building and Environment 39 (2004) 201209
www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenv
On thermal performance of an improved roof pond for cooling buildings
Runsheng Tang
a,
, Y. Etzion
b
a
Solar Energy Research Institute, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650092, Peoples Republic of China
b
The Desert Architecture Unit, J. Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus 84990, Israel
Received 25 September 2002; received in revised form 16 August 2003; accepted 3 September 2003
Abstract
In this study, a detailed simulation model is developed for the investigation and analysis of a roof pond with gunny bags (RPWGB)
oating on the water surface which was suggested and experimentally investigated in a previous study of the present authors. The model
is based on the newly proposed empirical correlation of water evaporation rate from a wetted surface to the ambient air proposed by
the present authors, and takes into account the response of buildings as a whole to evaporative cooling. Results by simulations show
that, regardless of the type of buildings the technique is applied to, RPWGB has a better cooling performance in terms of the indoor air
temperature and heat ux through the roof into pond as compared to a roof covered with wetted gunny bags, which had been widely
considered to be one of the most ecient roof cooling techniques. The reason for its higher eciency is the thermal stratication inside
the pond. The simulated results also reveal that the optimal water depth in the RPWGB depends on the roof type in general, and it is
about 20 cm for a concrete roof and is about 5 cm for metal-decked roofs.
? 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Roof pond; Evaporative cooling
1. Introduction
In the hot arid regions of developed countries, a major
part of the energy consumed consists of air-conditioning
requirements. Alternative methods, using passive cooling
techniques, can assist in reducing the conventional energy
consumption in buildings. Evaporative cooling, which can
be tracked back several hundreds of years in ancient Egypt
and Persia [13], is one of the most eective strategies,
because of the enormous latent heat needed for evaporation
of water.
Researchers have shown that about 50% of the heat gains
for a single-story building comes through the roof [4]. The
conventional approaches to reduce heat ux through the roof
into a building include increasing thickness of the roof, pro-
viding insulation and false ceilings, shading the roof and
using reective nish or coating. In hot dry areas, however,
this can be achieved by an open pond, a thin water lm and
spraying water on the roof.
The reduction of heat ux through the roofs by using roof
ponds was probably rst investigated at the University of

Corresponding author. Tel.: 86-871-5518598; fax: 86-871-5151719.

E-mail address: kingtang@public.km.yn.cn (R. Tang).
Texas [1] in the 1920s, but this method suered from struc-
tural problems and its use was pretty restricted. In 1940,
Houghten et al. [1,5] initiated a project to investigate the
cooling produced by (a) an open pond and (b) a spray of
water on the roof. They found that both methods were highly
eective in reducing heat ux through all types of roofs.
Yellot [5] carried out a similar experiment in Phoenix of Ari-
zona during the summer in 1965, in order to quantitatively
determine the cooling eect of intermittent water spraying.
He found that this roof spray cooling technique was most
eective in buildings with roofs of light construction, poor
insulation.
To date, many researches on the roof evaporative cooling
techniques have been done [413], and some of them have
been put into practical use [6,7]. Among all reported roof
evaporative cooling techniques, a roof covered with wetted
gunny bags and a pond with a movable insulation have been
widely considered as the most ecient systems for cooling
of buildings [4,5]. However, the water supply in the former
must be precisely controlled so as to meet the demand of
water evaporation without excessive water owing over the
roof, whereas the latter requires a mechanical system, op-
erated either manually or automatically, that will cover the
pond before sunrise and expose the pond right after sunset.
0360-1323/$ - see front matter ? 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2003.09.005
202 R. Tang, Y. Etzion / Building and Environment 39 (2004) 201209
Gunny bags on grid
Polystyrene strips
Insulation
Fig. 1. Schematic section of the RPWGB.
Recently, an improved roof pond, with gunny bags oat-
ing on the water surface (RPWGB), as shown in Fig. 1,
combining the advantages of both cooling techniques, was
suggested and experimentally examined in a previous paper
by the present authors [14]. This device can be achieved
by placing gunny bags on a grid or mesh with polystyrene
strips or other oatable materials attached underneath. The
gunny bags are used to intercept solar radiation, and dissi-
pate the received radiation and heat gains from the interior
of buildings through the roof by means of water evaporation,
convection and thermal radiation. Experimental results [14],
showed that this cooling system performed slightly better
than a pond with movable insulation did. The reason for its
higher eciency is the creation of thermal stratication of
the water inside the pond. The objective of this study was
to evaluate its thermal performance compared to a roof cov-
ered with wetted gunny bags through simulations using the
mathematical model developed in this paper.
2. Mathematical model
Research on multiple wick solar stills by Sodha [15] in-
dicated that the mass transfer from the surface of wetted
gunny bags was identical to that from a free water surface at
the same temperature. However, recent study conducted by
Tang et al. [16] showed that the water evaporation rate from
a wetted surface is not identical to that from a free water
surface. They are subject to dierent empirical correlations.
The heat loss Q
e
due to evaporation of water from a wetted
surface can be expressed by
Q
e
= (0.7581 + 0.4257t)(P
g
[P
a
)
0.7
, (1)
where P
g
and P
a
(in N}m
2
) represent the saturated vapor
pressures at the water temperature 1
g
(in

C) in the gunny
bags and air temperature 1
a
, respectively, and given by [16]
P = 3385.5 Exp[ 8.0929 + 0.97608(1 + 42.607)
1
2
].
(2)
2.1. Heat transfer within the RPWGB
As shown in Fig. 1, assuming that the temperature dis-
tribution inside the pond with water depth of H
1
is one di-
mensional and fully thermally stratied along the depth of
pond, the oated wetted gunny bags are to be considered as
another layer, with heat capacity equal to that of a water layer
with thickness H
0
. The upper surface of the gunny bag is
considered as the thermal representative of the whole gunny
bag. The water inside the pond is uniformly divided into n
layers, the center of each layer (the thickness of each layer
is h
1
= H
1
}n) is the thermal representative of each layer. If
the temperature of one horizontal layer is lower than that of
the layer below, the water in these two layers will fully mix.
Heat transfer along the envelope of the pond is disregarded.
Water thickness H
0
and H
1
are kept as constants. When
H
1
=0, the RPWGB is reduced to a roof covered with wetted
gunny bags, and its energy equation can be expressed by
AI
h
:
g
=Ah
c
(1
g
1
a
) + A(0.7581 + 0.4257t)(P
g
[P
a
)
0.7
+c
g
oA[(1
g
+ 273)
4
1
4
sky
] + AU
gr
(1
g
1
r, 1
)
+AH
0
j
w
C
w
d1
g
dt
, (3)
where
U
gr
= (H
0
}k
w
+ h
2
}k
r
)
1
,
1
sky
= c
0.25
sky
(1
a
+ 273), (4)
c
sky
= 0.74 + 0.0061
dp
, [18] (5)
1
dp
= 26.137 + 16.888a + 1.0496a
2
, [1] (6)
a = ln([P
a
)
= ln([) 8.0929 + 1.97608 (1
a
+ 42.607)
1
2
, (7)
h
c
= 2.8 + 3V (8)
where j, C, k, : and c denote density, specic heat, heat
conductivity, absorptivity and emissivity, respectively; [
and J denote the relative humidity and speed of air, respec-
tively. Subscripts w, a, g, r, dp and sky stand for water, am-
bient air, gunny bags, roof, dew point and sky, respectively.
When H
0
is not zero, the energy equation of the gunny bags
becomes
AI
h
:
g
=Ah
c
(1
g
1
a
) + A(0.7581 + 0.4257t)(P
g
[P
a
)
0.7
+Ac
g
o[(1
g
+ 273)
4
1
4
sky
] + AU
gp
(1
g
1
p, 1
)
+AH
0
j
w
C
w
d1
g
dt
, (9)
where subscript p denotes pond water; U
gp
=Max{k}(H
0
+
0.5h
1
), (H
0
}k +1}h
cw
)
1
}; h
cw
, the convective heat transfer
coecient between the gunny bags and top water layer, is
determined by the following procedure [17]:
If 1
g
1
p, 1
h
cw
= 0.54(k
w
}L)Ra
0.25
(10
5
Ra 10
7
), (10a)
h
cw
= 0.15(k
w
}L)Ra
0.333
(10
7
Ra 10
7
). (10b)
R. Tang, Y. Etzion / Building and Environment 39 (2004) 201209 203
If 1
g
1
p, 1
h
cw
= 0.27(k
w
}L)Ra
0.25
(10
5
Ra 10
7
), (11)
where
Ra = Gr
L
Pr = q[(1
g
1
p, 1
)L
3
}(:
2
w
Pr). (12)
By tting the data given by Incropera and Dewitt [17] a
binomial, one obtains formulae of the expansion coecient
[ and Prandtl number Pr of water as a function of temper-
ature (usually in average temperature 1
m
of 1
g
and 1
p, 1
) as
follows:
[ = (38.95 + 13.991
m
0.08391
2
m
) 10
6
(10

C1
m
50

C), (13a)
Pr = 11.9845 0.3071
m
+ 0.002891
2
m
(10

C1
m
50

C). (13b)
In Eq. (12), q is the gravitational constant, :
w
is the ther-
mal diusivity of water and L is the characteristic length,
dened as the ratio of the roof area A to its perimeter. For
top water layer inside the pond, the expression of energy
equation would be
U
gp
(1
g
1
p, 1
) + (k
w
}h
1
)(1
p, 2
1
p, 1
) = h
1
j
w
C
w
d1
p, 1
dt
.
(14)
For any water layer i (2 6i 6n 1), the corresponding
energy equation is as follows:
(k
w
}h
1
)(1
p, i1
+ 1
p, i+1
21
p, i
) = h
1
j
w
C
w
d1
p, i
dt
. (15)
For bottom water layer, the following equations hold:
(k
w
}h
1
)(1
p, n1
1
p, n
) + U
pr
(1
r, 1
1
p, n
)
=h
1
j
w
C
w
d1
p, n
dt
, (16)
U
pr
= Max{(0.5h
2
}k
r
+ 0.5h
1
}k
w
)
1
,
(0.5h
2
}k
r
+ 1}h
pr
)
1
}, (16a)
where h
pr
is the convective coecient between the roof and
the bottom water layer. If 1
r, 1
1
p, n
, h
pr
is calculated by
Eqs. 10(a) and (b), otherwise it is determined by Eq. (11).
After calculating the temperatures in all layers based on
temperatures at the previous moment, comparisons of tem-
peratures between adjacent layers must be done. If the tem-
perature in one layer is lower than that of the layer under-
neath, the water in these two layers will fully mix. Repeated
water temperature checking should be carried out until a
descending or uniform temperature distribution along the
depth of the pond has been reached.
2.2. Heat ux through roofs
A roof with thickness of H
2
, consisting of a single con-
struction material, is equally divided into three layers. The
center of each layer (thickness h
2
= H
2
}3) is seen as its
thermal representative. Thus we reach at the following three
equations:
U(1
x
1
r, 1
) + k
r
(1
r, 2
1
r, 1
)}h
2
= h
2
j
r
C
r
d1
r, 1
dt
, (17a)
k
r
(1
r, 1
+ 1
r, 3
21
r, 2
)}h
2
= h
2
j
r
C
r
d1
r, 2
dt
, (17b)
U
ri
(1
i
1
r, 3
) + k
r
(1
r, 2
1
r, 3
)}h
2
= h
2
j
r
C
r
d1
r, 3
dt
. (17c)
If H
1
= 0, U = U
gr
and 1
x
= 1
g
; otherwise U = U
pr
and
1
x
=1
p, n
. In Eq. (17c), U
ri
=(0.5h
2
}k
r
+1}h
i
)
1
; subscript i
stands for indoor air; h
i
, the convective coecient between
internal surface of the roof and indoor air including radiative
heat transfer, is determined by the following procedure:
If 1
i
1
r, 3
then h
i
= 9.7 W}m
2
K; otherwise h
i
=
7.7 W}m
2
K.
2.3. Heat ux through walls
It is assumed that all walls are identical with regard to
construction materials and structure. One window is located
in the southern wall, and another window identical in size
to the southern one is located in the northern wall. A door
is located in the southern wall. Walls are divided into two
thermal layers, namely external layer and internal layer with
equal thermal mass. The external surface of walls is the
thermal representative of the external layer with temperature
1
wo
, and the internal surface is the thermal representative of
the internal layer with temperature 1
wi
. All walls have the
same form of energy equations as follows:
0.5(MC

)
wa
d1
wo
dt
=:
w
S h
wo
(1
wo
1
a
) 0.5c
w
o[(1
wo
+ 273)
4
1
4
sky
]
U
wa
(1
wo
1
wi
), (18)
0.5(MC

)
wa
d1
wt
dt
= h
wi
(1
i
1
wi
) + U
wa
(1
wo
1
wi
),
(18a)
where subscripts wa, wo and wi represent wall, external and
internal surface of walls, respectively; U
wa
is the heat loss
coecient due to the conduction of walls and (MC

)
wa
is the
heat capacity per unit area of walls. S, collectible radiation
per unit area of walls, is determined by the orientation of a
wall. The following procedure is executed:
The incidence angle 0
s
of solar ray on the southern wall
is given by
cos(0
s
) = cos(o)sin(z)cos(c) cos(z)sin(o). (19)
204 R. Tang, Y. Etzion / Building and Environment 39 (2004) 201209
The incidence angle 0
w
of solar ray on the western wall is
expressed by
cos(0
w
) = cos(o)sin(c), (20)
S
s
= I
b
cos(0
s
) + 0.5I
d
+ 0.5I
h
j
g
and
S
n
= 0.5I
d
+ 0.5I
h
j
g
, (cos(0
s
) 0), (21a)
S
s
= 0.5I
d
+ 0.5I
h
j
g
and
S
n
= I
b
cos(0
s
) + 0.5I
d
+ 0.5I
h
j
g
, (cos(0
s
) 0),
(21b)
S
w
= I
b
cos(0
w
) + 0.5I
d
+ 0.5I
h
j
g
and
S
e
= 0.5I
d
+ 0.5I
h
j
g
, (cos(0
w
) 0), (22a)
S
w
= 0.5I
d
+ 0.5I
h
j
g
and
S
e
= I
b
cos(0
w
) + 0.5I
d
+ 0.5I
h
j
g
, (cos(0
w
) 0),
(22b)
where S
s
, S
n
, S
e
, S
w
are collectible radiation correspond-
ing to southern, northern, eastern and western wall, respec-
tively; I
b
and I
d
are the intensity of beam and diuse radi-
ation, respectively and j
g
is the albedo of the ground. For
clear sky, given the horizontal radiation, I
h
, I
d
can be esti-
mated by the method suggested by Liu and Jordan [18] as
follows:
I
d
= 0.3838I
0, e
cos(0
z
) 0.4162I
h
, (23a)
where I
0, e
is the solar intensity on an extraterrestrial surface
normal to radiation, determined by the day of a year. 0
z
is the
zenith angle of the sun, and is determined by the hour angle,
c, declination angle, o, and local latitude, z, as follows:
cos(0
z
) = cos(z)cos(o)cos(c) + sin(z)sin(o). (23b)
2.4. Heat ux through oor
Heat transfer through the ground is one of the most com-
plex issues among those relevant to the heat transfer in
buildings [19]. Fortunately, measurements undertaken in
residential buildings have shown that heat losses through the
oor and the ground underneath can sometimes be less than
10% of the overall heat losses through the building envelope
[20]. Studies by Wright and Waters [20] suggested that, the-
oretically, heat ow into the ground underneath a building
can be separated into three components, namely: steady state
heat ow along curving paths resulting from the dierence
between the annual average of the internal oor surface and
external ground surface temperatures; sinusoidal heat ow
along curving paths resulting from the annual swing of the
external ground surface temperature about its mean value;
heat ow in vertical direction between the oor surface and
the deep soil layer resulting from diurnal temperature uc-
tuations of the internal oor surface. For the purpose of
present study, the dynamic heat transfer during a short pe-
riod, such as one day, will be considered, so it is reasonable
to consider the ground as part of the thermal mass of build-
ings and not to consider the heat ux along curving paths.
In other words, only the vertical heat ux due to the diurnal
indoor temperature swing is taken into account in this study.
Assuming the temperature of the undisturbed ground sur-
face harmonically oscillates around its mean temperature at
amplitude 1, the ground temperature underneath would
also harmonically oscillate around its mean temperature

1,
but the amplitude of this oscillation would be attenuated,
depending on the thermal diusivity, :, of the ground and
oscillating frequency, [, through
1 Exp

[
2:

, (24)
where x is the depth from the ground surface in meters.
However, if the oor consists of dierent material layers,
the attenuation of amplitude of this oscillation will be equal
to the product of attenuations in all preceding layers, i.e.
1 Exp

x
i

[
2:
i

. (24a)
With increasing depth in the ground, the amplitude of os-
cillation about its mean surface temperature

1 is attenuated
until it stabilizes at its mean temperature

1. The contribution
of the ground to the heat storage of a building is determined
by the thermal mass of the slab or soil layers under the oor
within which there are temperature uctuations in a daily
cycle. Deeper soil layers where the temperature is nearly
constant contribute little to the heat storage of a building. In
the present study, the eective thermal mass of the ground
is considered to be up to a depth where the amplitude of
temperature oscillation about its mean temperature

1 in a
daily cycle is attenuated to be 10% of that in ground sur-
faces value 1. Namely, the eective thermal mass depth
of the ground is determined by

x
i

[
2:
i
= 2.3. (25)
Assuming x
1
=15 cm, :
1
=6.9210
7
m
2
}s (concrete),
[ = 2}(24 3600) = 7.27 10
5
rad}s, and :
2
= 1.39
10
7
m
2
}s (dry soil), then x
2
= 7.5 cm based on Eq. (25).
In the subsequent simulations, x
2
is set at 10 cm.
To simplify calculations, the concrete slab is divided into
two thermal layers, the upper layer is 5 cm in thickness,
and the oor surface is the thermal representative of this
layer; another layer is 10 cm in thickness and its thermal
representative is taken at the center of this layer. The soil
layer is evenly divided into two layers with the thermal
representative at the center of both layers. This yields the
R. Tang, Y. Etzion / Building and Environment 39 (2004) 201209 205
following equations:
h
f
(1
i
1
fc, 1
) + 10k
fc
(1
fc, 2
1
fc, 1
)
=0.05j
fc
C
fc
d1
fc, 1
dt
, (26a)
10k
fc
(1
fc, 1
1
fc, 2
) + U
cs
(1
fs, 1
1
fc, 2
)
=0.1j
fc
C
fc
d1
fc, 2
dt
, (26b)
U
cs
(1
fc, 2
1
fs, 1
) + 20k
fs
(1
fs, 2
1
fs, 1
)
=0.05j
fs
C
fs
d1
fs, 1
dt
, (26c)
20k
fs
(1
fs, 1
1
fs, 2
) + 40k
fs
(1
g0
1
fs, 2
)
=0.05j
fs
C
fs
d1
fs, 2
dt
, (26d)
where h
f
is the heat transfer coecient between the ground
surface and indoor air. h
f
= 9.7 W}m
2
K if 1
fc, 1
1
i
, oth-
erwise h
f
=7.7 W}m
2
K. U
cs
=(0.05}k
fc
+0.025}k
fs
)
1
; 1
g0
is the temperature of the deep ground and is taken to be the
daily average value of 1
fc, 1
; subscripts fc and fs stand for
the concrete and the soil layer under the oor, respectively.
2.5. Indoor air of buildings
Air inside buildings is supposed to be fully mixed with-
out thermal stratication. Heat gains through the windows
and the door are simplied as (2A
wd
U
wd
+A
dr
U
dr
)(1
a
1
i
)
without consideration of any direct solar gain and heat gen-
eration inside buildings. Thus, the following energy equa-
tions are produced:
(MC

)
a
d1
i
dt
=m
ach
(1
a
1
i
)C
a
+ AU
ri
(1
r, 3
1
i
)
+

A
w
(1
wi
1
i
)h
wi
+(2A
wd
U
wd
+ A
dr
U
dr
)(1
a
1
i
)
+Ah
f
(1
fc, 1
1
i
), (27)
where m
ach
is the air change rate in m
3
}s and

A
w
(1
wi

1
i
)h
wi
is the heat transfer through all walls.
3. Numerical calculations
3.1. Data for simulations
In order to compare the cooling performance of RPWGB
on roofs with wetted gunny bags placed on it (H
1
= 0),
three types of buildings having a single thermal zone were
used to examine the cooling performance of both systems.
These buildings are of identical design with the same ground
underneath, but with dierent walls or roofs.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
20
22
24
26
28
30
32
34
36
38
T
a
A
i
r

t
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

o
C
Solar time
-100
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1100
H
o
r
i
z
o
n
t
a
l

r
a
d
i
a
t
i
o
n

(
W
/
m
2
)

Measured on Aug.7, 2002
I
h
Fig. 2. Horizontal radiation and ambient temperature used for simulations.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
Measured on Aug.7, 2002
Wind speed v
W
i
n
d

s
p
e
e
d

(
m
/
s
)
Solar time
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

h
u
m
i
d
i
t
y

o
f

t
h
e

a
i
r

%

Relative humidity
Fig. 3. Relative humidity and wind velocity used for simulations.
Building 1: well-insulated, massive walls and a concrete
roof.
Building 2: poorly insulated, light walls and a metal-
decked roof.
Building 3: well-insulated, massive walls and a metal-
decked roof.
Climatic data for simulations, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, were
data measured at 10-min intervals in Sede Boqer, Israel (z=
30.8 N) on August 7, 2002. Parameters used for simulations
are listed in Table 1.
3.2. Simulation procedure
First the climatic data and the initial temperatures of all
nite elements (i.e., an assumed temperature distribution of
the building at 0:00), as well as parameters of simulated
buildings and ponds were input. The nite dierence method
was used to calculate the temperatures of all nite elements
at any time in the simulated day (from 0 : 00 +dt to 24:00)
based on temperatures of all nite elements at the previ-
ous moment. The temperature distribution of the building
at the last moment of the simulated day (at 24:00) was re-
garded to be the new initial condition (a new temperature
206 R. Tang, Y. Etzion / Building and Environment 39 (2004) 201209
Table 1
Parameters used for simulations
Dimension of buildings Size: 4 m 6 m 3 m; A = 24 m
2
; southern wall 15 m
2
; northern wall 16.8 m
2
; eastern or western wall 12 m
2
;
window: A
wd
= 1.2 m
2
, U
wd
= 2.5 W}m
2
K; door: A
dr
= 1.8 m
2
, U
dr
= 1 W}m
2
K; :
w
= 0.3, c
w
= 0.9; j
g
= 0.2
Building 1 (MC

)
wa
=3.6610
5
W}m
2
K; U
wa
=0.498 W}m
2
K, H
2
=0.15 m, k
r
=1.4 W}m K, C
r
=880 J}kg K, j
r
=2300 kg}m
3
Building 2 (MC

)
w
=3.6610
4
W}m
2
K; U
w
=2.49 W}m
2
K, H
2
=0.01 m, k
r
=60 W}m K, j
r
=7850 kg}m
3
, C
r
=434 J}kg K
Building 3 (MC

)
w
=3.6610
5
W}m
2
K; U
w
=0.498 W}m
2
K, H
2
=0.01 m, k
r
=60 W}m K, j
r
=7850 kg}m
3
, C
r
=434 J}kg K
Gunny bags :
g
= 0.4, H
0
= 0.005 m, c
g
= 0.93
Floor x
fc
= 15 cm, :
fc
= 6.92 10
7
m
2
}s, k
fc
= 1.4 W}m K, C
fc
= 880 J}kg K, j
fc
= 2300 kg}m
3
; x
fs
= 10 cm,
:
fs
= 1.39 10
7
m
2
}s, k
fs
= 1.8 W}m K, C
fs
= 880 J}kg K, j
fs
= 1460 kg}m
3
Indoor air m
ach
= 1.5ACH}h = 0.0232 kg}s, j
a
= 1.16 kg}m
3
, C
a
= 1007 J}kg K, (MC

)
a
= 84100 W}K
Others o=5.6710
8
W m
2
K
4
; h
wo
=10 W}m
2
K; h
wi
=8.7 W}m
2
K; n=5; dt=120 s; j
w
=1000 kg}m
3
; C
pw
=4180 J}kg K;
k
w
= 0.613 W}m K
Fig. 4. Time variations of indoor temperature and heat ux through the
roof in Building 1.
distribution of the building at 0:00). The above calculations
were repeated (again from 0 : 00+dt to 24:00) until the rel-
ative deviation of the calculated Q
day
between two adjacent
iterant calculations was found to be less than 1% (a desig-
nating accuracy of the calculation). Then the nal calculated
temperature variation of elements we were concerned with
(such as indoor air) and heat ux variation during the sim-
ulated day were output. Heat ux through roofs, q, from the
interior of buildings to the pond is dened as U
ri
(1
i
1
r, 3
),
and the daily heat loss Q
day
(MJ}m
2
day) through roofs is
dened as

t
U
ri
(1
i
1
r, 3
) dt.
3.3. Results and discussion
Fig. 4 gives the time-dependent indoor temperature and
heat ux through the roof in Building 1. Compared to the
case of H
1
=0 (a roof covered with gunny bags), the RPWGF
has lower and more stable indoor temperatures all hours of
the day, and also has more stable heat ux and greater daily
heat loss through the roof. It is evidently shown that the
RPWGB has a better cooling eect in terms of 1
i
and q as
compared to the case of H
1
= 0. The reason for this seems
Fig. 5. Time variations of indoor temperature and heat ux through the
roof in Building 2.
to be the thermal stratication inside the pond during day
hours. As shown in Fig. 7, the tendency of the temperature
distribution along the depth of the pond by simulation is
in very good agreement with that experimentally observed
in the previous study [14]. This thermal stratication inside
the pond acts like a thermal diode: it eectively resists
heat transfer between the gunny bags and the water near
the bottom of the pond, which leaves this water relatively
cool. In turn, this facilitates heat transfer from the interior
of the building into the water. Even in the afternoon, when
the air temperature is relatively higher and solar radiation
is intense, there is still a great amount of heat ux through
roofs into the pond.
Fig. 5 presents the time variations of the indoor air tem-
perature and the heat ux through the roof of Building 2.
Results show that both systems have almost the same cool-
ing eect in this case. This is because poorly insulated
walls allow considerable amounts of solar heat gains ow-
ing into the interior of the building and then being dissipated
away through the roof to the pond. As seen in the heat ux
curves in Fig. 5, the heat ux through the roof of Building
2 is much greater than that through the roof of Building 1
(Fig. 4), and eventually causes poor thermal stratication
R. Tang, Y. Etzion / Building and Environment 39 (2004) 201209 207
Fig. 6. Time variations of indoor temperature and heat ux through the
roof in Building 3.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
20
22
24
26
28
30
32
Applied to Building 1
Max. dif. 5.8
o
C
Gunny bags
Top
Middle
Bottom
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

o
C
Solar time
Fig. 7. Temperature distribution along the depth of the pond when applied
to Building 1.
inside the pond (Fig. 8). In addition, the water inside the
pond also resists heat dissipation from the roof to the ambi-
ent due to heat storage of water.
For Building 3, shown in Fig. 6, both cooling systems have
stable indoor temperature and heat ux owing out through
the roof (see also Figs. 7 and 8). Compared to the case of
H
1
= 0, the RPWGB still has better cooling eect in terms
of 1
i
, q and Q
day
. The reason is the same as in Building 1,
i.e. the creation of thermal stratication inside the pond
(Fig. 9). A comparison between Figs. 4 and 6 indicate that
Building 3 is in the better thermally comfortable condition
as compared to Building 1 in terms of 1
i
. This signies that
the cooling eect of both cooling systems depends on the
building types they are applied to. Well-insulated walls and
good thermal conduction of roofs can eectively improve
their cooling eect. However, irrespective of the building
types it applied to, the RPWGB is always superior to a
roof covered with wetted gunny bags in the cooling eect
due to the creation of thermal stratication inside the pond.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
Applied to Building 2
Max. dif. 2.7
o
C
Gunny bags
Top
Middle
Bottom
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

o
C
Solar time
Fig. 8. Temperature distribution along the depth of the pond when applied
to Building 2.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
22
24
26
28
30
32
Applied to Building 3
Max. dif. 6
o
C
Gunny bags
Top
Middle
Bottom
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

o
C
Solar time
Fig. 9. Temperature distribution along the depth of the pond when applied
to Building 3.
Fig. 10 presents the eect of absorptivity of gunny bags on
the daily heat loss Q
day
. As might be expected, an increase
in the absorptivity of gunny bags will linearly reduce its
cooling potential through the roof. However, a roof covered
with wetted gunny bags is more sensitive to the increase of
the absorptivity of gunny bags as compared to the RPWGB.
Fig. 11 illustrates the eect of water depth in the pond of
the RPWGB on its cooling potential, Q
day
. It shows that the
eect of water depth on its cooling potential depends on the
roof type in general. When applied to Building 1, an increase
in the water depth of the pond will improve the cooling
eect due to the creation of thermal stratication inside the
pond. The upper threshold of this improvement capability
is, however, 20 cm, at which the improved operation comes
to a halt. Hence, the optimal water depth in the pond in
this case is about 20 cm. When applied to Building 2 or
Building 3, an initial increase in the water depth rapidly
improves its cooling eect and peaks at about 5 cm, after
which further increase in water depth will worsen the cooling
208 R. Tang, Y. Etzion / Building and Environment 39 (2004) 201209
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
1.9
2.0
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3.0
3.1
3.2
3.3
Building 1
H
1
=0.2 m
H
1
=0 m
Q
d
a
y

(
M
J
/
m
2
)

g
Fig. 10. Eect of absorptivity :
g
on the daily heat loss Q
day
through the
roof of Building 1.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
2.70
2.75
2.80
2.85
2.90
2.95
3.00
3.05
3.10
3.15
3.20
3.25
3.30
3.35
3.40
3.45
3.50
3.55
3.60
3.65
Applied to Building 1
Applied to Building 3
Q
d
a
y

(
M
J
/
m
2
)

Depth of water in the pond (cm)
9.0
9.5
10.0
10.5
11.0
11.5
12.0
Q
d
a
y

(
M
J
/
m
2
)


Applied to Building 2
Fig. 11. Eect of the water depth H
1
on the daily heat loss Q
day
.
eect. This may be due to too much water increasing the heat
storage of the pond, and in turn causing less heat transfer
by water evaporation due to lower water temperature. Thus,
the optimal water depth is about 5 cm in this case.
4. Conclusions
Analysis in the above showed that, irrespective of the
type of buildings it is applied to, the RPWGB has a better
cooling eect than a roof covered with wetted gunny bags,
which has been widely considered to be one of the most ef-
cient roof evaporative cooling techniques in the past. This
is mainly due to the creation of thermal stratication within
the pond, just as experimentally observed by present authors
in the previous study. This thermal stratication, just like
a thermal diode, eectively resists the heat transfer from
the ambient air to the deep water of the pond, facilitates the
heat transfer from the interior of buildings to the pond due
to the lower water temperature near the pond oor. The op-
timal water depth inside system is determined by the heat
conduction of roofs it is applied to. When applied to build-
ings with a concrete roof, the optimal water depth is about
20 cm; when applied to buildings with metal-decked roofs,
its optimal water depth is about 5 cm. Results by simulations
also indicate that the RPWGB produces more stable indoor
temperature and higher heat ux owing out of buildings
through the roof as compared to a roof covered with wetted
gunny bags. In addition, this system is not so sensitive to the
absorptivity of gunny bags as are roofs covered with wetted
gunny bags, due to its high heat capacity. Unlike roofs cov-
ered with wetted gunny bags and ponds with movable in-
sulation, the RPWGB is easy to build and control, and may
function as an ecient cooling system.
Although the reliability of mathematical model devel-
oped here has not been validated by experiments, it is be-
lieved that this will not aect the results of comparisons on
the cooling performance between the RPWGB and a roof
covered with wetted gunny bags. Because the tendency of
water temperature along the depth of the pond by simula-
tions is in very good agreement with that previously ob-
served by experiments. In addition, the same conclusions as
obtained in the above can also be found when other climatic
data are used for the simulations. However, a further eld
examination on the cooling performance of the RPWGB is
necessary before putting it into practical use.
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