Evaluating green roof performance in Korea: heating and cooling load impacts under future climate scenarios

Climate change and urbanization are increasing the energy demand of buildings, which emphasize mitigation strategies such as the Green Roof (GR). This study evaluates the impact of GR on heating and cooling loads in mid-sized office buildings across ASHRAE climate zones 3A-6A in South Korea. Using EnergyPlus, simulations of old and modern buildings were conducted under current and CMIP6 model-based future climates (2050, 2080). The results of the study show that while GR consistently lowers the heating load in all climate scenarios, the cooling effect is minimal or rather negative in highly insulated modern buildings. These findings emphasize that the effect of GR depends on the thermal insulation performance and climate conditions.