Potted Plants on Flat Roof as a Strategy to Reduce Indoor Temperature in Malaysian Climate

Problem statement: The phenomenon of global warming or climate change has led to many environmental issues including higher atmospheric temperatures, intensive precipitation, increase greenhouse gaseous emission and of course increase indoor discomfort condition. Researchers worldwide collectively agreed that one way of reducing the impact of global warming is by implementing green roof technology which integrates vegetation, growing medium and water proofing membrane on top of the roof surface. However, none of them have ever studied on how much the potted plants on the roof top could contribute to lessen the environmental problems. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of potted plants on flat roof on the indoor temperature inside building in Malaysian climate. Approach: This study emphasized on experimental approach of the room with flat roof. Measurements were conducted in two phases i.e., room with potted plant on the roof and room with bare roof. The measurements were conducted on the same room. Results: The experiment showed a promising result whereby the average indoor temperature dropped between 0.21 and 1.73°C had been observed during the measurements, while average indoor surface temperatures difference between roof with potted plants and bare roof of 7.86°C had been recorded during daytime hour. Conclusion: Potted plants on flat roof had a great potential in reducing the indoor temperature of the room underneath and could contributed to the reduction of energy consumption in building.