Drainage Capabilities and Heat Loss of Different Inverted Roof Assemblies

Energy use in buildings throughout North America has attracted significant attention over the past decade. In cold marine climates, rainwater management is also a critical aspect of the building enclosure and energy performance. Various drainage practices used for low slope inverted roofing are often designed without quantified data available regarding the cold rain affects on the thermal performance of the systems.

This paper will explore the effect of cold water under the roof insulation and its impact on the effective thermal performance in inverted roofs is well researched. The goal of this project was to develop a better understanding of the impact of cold rain events on the effective thermal performance of inverted roofs in an effort to develop best practice inverted roofs design guidelines.

 This paper was presented at the BEST 5 Conference in April 2018.
Author: Matthew Pel, B.Tech., Eng.L., Derek Budde, B.A.Sc. EIT