The role of green roofs in climate change mitigation. A case study in Seville (Spain)

• Published in: Building and environment 2017-10, Vol.123, p.575-584
• Main Authors: Herrera-Gomez, Sergio S., Quevedo-Nolasco, Abel, Pérez-Urrestarazu, Luis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anthropogenic factors; Architectural design; Case studies; Cities; Climate change; Climate change mitigation; Climate models; Green buildings; Green development; Green roofs; Heat island; Land surface temperature; Landsat; Landsat satellites; Normalized difference vegetation index; Normalized difference vegetative index; Remote sensing; Roofing; Roofs; Rural areas; Satellite imagery; Satellites; Sustainable design; Urban greening; Urban heat islands; Vegetation; Weather forecasting
• ISSN: 0360-1323; 1873-684X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2017.07.036

The intense anthropogenic urban activity generates a phenomenon known as heat island, which is related with high temperatures in cities, as compared against adjacent suburban and rural areas. Due to this effect, the comfort conditions of the citizens deteriorate. In the case of the city of Seville (Spain), several models of climate change forecast increases in the maximum temperatures ranging from 1.5 to 6 °C in summer. This article explores the role of green roofs as a supplement to the green spaces of the city, in order to buffer the negative effects of the increase of the maximum temperatures due to climate change. Images from the Landsat 7 ETM+ and Sentinel-2 satellites have been used in order to verify the inverse relationship between land surface temperature and the abundance of vegetation, expressed by the normalized difference vegetation index. For Seville, a green roof surface of 740 ha should be implemented, in the most adverse scenario, which means covering 40.6% of the existing buildings. In the most optimistic scenario, the forecasted green roof surface required is 207 ha (11.3% of the roofs). [Display omitted] •Estimating the green roof area required to buffer negative effects of climate change.•Inverse relationship between land surface temperature and abundance of vegetation.•740 ha of green roofs should be implemented in the most adverse scenario for Seville.•In an optimistic scenario, 11.3% of the buildings should be covered with green roofs.