Design Proposal




​Background

Anyone who has ever lived in a hot and humid climate can testify to how hot the equatorial regions of the Earth can be. Standard building methods in most places have little information or no desire to attempt solving the problem by using passive methods and instead use more energy than necessary to keep their buildings climate controlled. The purpose of this project is to investigate what can be done to improve roof systems by simply changing the paint color and/or by adding a thin layer of material coating to increase the reflection of solar energy.



Research Question

What combination of material, color and coating reflects the most solar energy for a roof structure?

The data will include two temperature sensors. One in the outside reading the light source, and a second one in the inside of the box, comparing the amount of heat reflected off of the surface.



Hypothesis: 

Roofs that are lighter in shade and with a lower thermal conductivity will reflect more heat than a roof that is darker with a higher thermal conductivity.

  1. White is the best color at reflecting solar radiation while black is the best at absorbing the energy from solar radiation. Naturally the lighter the roof, the more reflective. Pure black absorbs 100% of solar radiation while pure white reflects 100%. For example snow reflects 95% of solar radiation.
  2. Material isn’t as straightforward as color. We have to consider thermal conductivity and heat capacity. If a roof has high thermal conductivity and a high heat capacity it’ll absorb and hold more heat than a roof with a low heat capacity and low thermal conductivity. Also the mass of the material can effect the emissivity.

Materials:

  • Rigid Insulation
  • Temperature sensor
  • Heat Lamp
  • Terracotta tile, metal sheet, wooden panel, concrete slab, etc.
  • Paints/Coatings​

Supplies:

2" Rigid Insulation: Already Have

Heat Lamp: $5

Temperature Sensors: Already Have

Interchangeable Roof Pieces: $30-$50

Roof Coatings/Paints: $20-$50

​Total: 55-105$
​

Schedule:

Mockup

Describe process, fabrication methods (include photos), plan for completion (list of materials, supplies, budget, etc). electronic controls strategy. You should be able to get actual data from this mockup. Be sure to caption all photos.