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GREEN ROOF STUDY: STORMWATER QUANTITY, QUALITY AND THERMAL PERFORMANCE

Ni, Jiayin (2009) GREEN ROOF STUDY: STORMWATER QUANTITY, QUALITY AND THERMAL PERFORMANCE. Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

This thesis presents the use of green roofs compared to conventional (control) roofs using modern construction methods. The green roof is aesthetically and environmentally superior to the control roof, which improves the city landscape and reduces the burden to environment. Two green roofs involved in the study are located at Shadyside of Pittsburgh and Homestead, PA, respectively. Additionally, a control roof is established and monitored next to each of the green roofs. The green roof study primarily focused on stormwater runoff (quantity and quality) and thermal performance. The results demonstrated that green roofs, on the contrary to the conventional roofs, retain significantly more water, attenuate temperature fluctuations for a roof membrane, and attenuate environmental contaminants to the discharged runoff. Two different technologies of green roofs were analyzed. Soil medium thickness and soil moisture content are controlling variables.Several benefits of the green roof in comparison to the control roof were observed. Data acquired during the 95 storms at the two study locations revealed that green roofs delayed the time for runoff from the roof to begin as well as when the peak flow occurred and greatly reduced the hourly flow rate and total runoff volume in comparison to the control roofs. The delay time for runoff onset from a green roof ranged from minutes to hours, and depends on the soil moisture content prior to the storm. Temperature profiles suggest that a green roof provides better insulation and decreased temperature variations for all parts of the roof, particularly the waterproofing membrane, during warm weather. The soil medium over the green roof is able to neutralize the acidic rainfall and retain pollutant solids, preventing the unfiltered rainfall from directly discharging to the sewage system.


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Details

Item Type: University of Pittsburgh ETD
Status: Unpublished
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Ni, Jiayinjin4@pitt.eduJIN4
ETD Committee:
TitleMemberEmail AddressPitt UsernameORCID
Committee ChairNeufeld, Ronald Dneufeld@pitt.eduNEUFELD
Committee MemberMonnell, Jason Djdm49@pitt.eduJDM49
Committee MemberLin, Jeen-Shangjslin@pitt.eduJSLIN
Date: 25 September 2009
Date Type: Completion
Defense Date: 21 July 2009
Approval Date: 25 September 2009
Submission Date: 15 July 2009
Access Restriction: No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately.
Institution: University of Pittsburgh
Schools and Programs: Swanson School of Engineering > Civil and Environmental Engineering
Degree: MSCE - Master of Science in Civil Engineering
Thesis Type: Master's Thesis
Refereed: Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords: combined sewer overflow technology; CSO; green infrastructure; rainfall runoff; thermal performance; vegetated roof; water retention; green roof; runoff pollution mitigation
Other ID: http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-07152009-151339/, etd-07152009-151339
Date Deposited: 10 Nov 2011 19:51
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2016 13:45
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/8387

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