GreenRoof

Water balance model

The GreenRoof model is public domain software and hence freely available.
The user-friendly software is menu driven and requires no specific computer knowledge.

Reference
Raes, D., Timmerman, A., Hermy, M., and Mentens, J. 2006. GreenRoof water balance
model. K.U.Leuven University, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Division of Soil and
Water Management, Leuven, Belgium.

Installation procedure and structure

Download the installation disk from the web site www.iupware.be (select downloads and
subsequently software and manuals) and install the GreenRoof software by running the
SETUP.EXE (application) file, which you will guide through the installation procedure.
If the GreenRoof software is correctly installed, the main directory (default C:\Program
Files\IUPWARE\GreenRoof ) should contain:
(i) the following files:
- GreenRoof.EXE (the executable file );
- DEFAULT.PAR (a file with the default program parameters);
(ii) and three subdirectories:
- DATA: which contains files with roof characteristics (*.TOP), and files with climatic
data (evaporation demand of the atmosphere (*.ETo), daily rainfall data (*. PLU), and
type files (*.TYP) with reference to an ETo and a PLU file);
- HELP: which contains the help file GREENROOF.HLP;
- OUTP: where output of the program will be stored, i.e. a file with the characteristics
of the analyzed roofs (*.CHA) and a file with the values of parameters of the water
balance of the roofs (*.OUT).

GreenRoof software

Concept
The GreenRoof model weighs the water balance of two roofs against each other (roof A
versus B). The amount of water (i) retained on the roofs and (ii) evacuated as run-off
from the roofs are computed on a daily basis for a simulation period to be specified by
the user. Rain water retained on the roof is removed by evapotranspiration when the
weather conditions are favorable.
The input consists of files containing daily climatic data for the location and
characteristics for the studied roof. Gravel roofs, tile and slate roofs, bitumen roofs and
extensive green-roofs with various types of vegetation and degree of vegetation cover can
be selected or created and saved in the data bank for later use. The roofs are characterized
by their surface area, position, orientation, and slope and for green-roofs by the type and
extension of the vegetation cover, depth of the substrate layer and the presence of a
drainage/reservoir layer. The climatic data consists of daily rainfall observed in a
representative weather station and grass reference evapotranspiration (ETo). The grass
reference evapotranspiration characterizes the evaporative demand of the atmosphere for
the location and is derived from meteorological data.

Calculation procedure
The water balance is computed with a daily time step by keeping track of the daily
incoming (WIN) and outgoing (WRO and WET) water fluxes:
Amount of water received by rainfall (WIN): Since roofs oriented to a dominant wind
direction will receive more rainfall than flat roofs or oriented to another direction, the
model estimate the incoming water WIN (liter.day-1) by considering not only rainfall but
also the cosine of the slope and the orientation of the roof

X
WIN = Robs Cos
(1 + a Rain X )
180

(Eq. 1)

where Robs is the observed rainfall (mm.day-1), the surface area (m) of the roof, aRAIN a
dimensionless program parameter and X the slope of the roof (degree). The values for
aRAIN depend on the orientation of the roof and local wind and rainfall characteristics. The
program parameter aRAIN can be adjusted by the user to consider local conditions.
Amount of water lost by run-off (WRO): If all incoming water WIN can be stored on the
roof, WRO is zero. If WIN exceeds the actual storage capacity of the roof, the excess
incoming rainfall is lost by surface run-off:

WRO = WIN (WS max WSact )

(Eq. 2)

where WSact is the actual and WSmax the maximum amount of water (liter) that can be
retained on the roof. At each time step WSact is updated by considering the incoming
rainfall and the outgoing evapotranspiration. WSact ranges between zero when the roof is

GreenRoof software

completely dry and WSmax when the roof is soaked by rainfall. WSmax is a program
parameter which value depends on the surface area of the roof and the roof type. The
program parameter WSmax can be adjusted by the user to consider local conditions.
Amount of water lost by evapotranspiration (WET): Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the
evaporation (E) of water on the roof or vegetation surfaces and the transpiration (T) of
water by vegetation stored in the substrate of green-roofs. The amount of water lost by
ET is determined by (i) the given evaporative demand of the atmosphere (ETo), (ii) the
slope and orientation of the roof, (iii) the position of the roof, (iv) the characteristics of
the roof surface, (v) the amount of water retained (WSact) on the roof and (vi) the surface
area:
(i)
ETo (mm.day-1) is given as input;

(ii)

The slope and orientation of the roof will increase or decrease the amount of
radiation received and hence ETo. The adjusted ETo (mm.day-1) is given by
ETo adjusted = ETo (1 + a RAD X )

(Eq. 3)

where aRAD is a program parameter and X the slope of the roof (degree). The
program parameter aRAD can be adjusted by the user to consider local conditions.
(iii)

Although ETo is not very sensitive to wind speed, a correction is required if the
wind speed observed on the roof strongly deviates from the observations in the
meteorological station. The required correction is negative when the roof is shut
in by other buildings and positive for tall, fully exposed buildings. The required
correction is negative when the roof is shut in by other buildings and positive for
tall, fully exposed buildings. Four exponential equations are used to adjust the
evaporation rate. The coefficients of the equations are program parameters and
can be adjusted by the user to consider local conditions;

(iv)

For identical environmental conditions, the ET from a wet (green-)roof differs

from ETo due to differences in the characteristics of the roof surface when
compared with the reference grass surface. By integrating the effect of
evaporation and transpiration into a single crop coefficient (Kc), the ET from a
wet roof is given by the Kc approach (Allen et al., 1998):
ETwet roof = Kc ETo*

(Eq. 4)

where ETo* (mm.day-1) is the reference evapotranspiration corrected and adjusted

for slope, orientation and position if required. By selecting a roof type, the
program considers the appropriate Kc coefficient. The Kc of green-roofs depends
on the type of vegetation and degree of soil cover. The Kc coefficient can be
adjusted by the user to consider local conditions;

GreenRoof software

(v)

When water is lost by ET from the roof, the actual water content WSact decreases
and water becomes more strongly bound to the matrix and is more difficult to
extract. This is simulated by considering a water stress coefficient Ks
ETroof = Ks Kc ETo*

(Eq. 5)

Ks is 1 when the water content is above a threshold value. When the water content
drops below the threshold, Ks decreases linearly from 1 to 0. Ks is 0 when WSact
is zero. The threshold value is specified by the fraction p of the maximum of
water that can be retained (WSmax). In the model it is assumed that water retained
on the roof or vegetation surface can fully evaporate without any restriction, i.e.
the evaporation rate is only dictated by the climatic conditions and p is 1. The
default values for p for the evaporation from the substrate layer and transpiration
by the vegetation are given as program parameters. The p coefficient can be
adjusted by the user to consider local conditions;
(vi)

The amount of water lost by evapotranspiration, WET (liter.day-1), is given by

W ET = Ks Kc ETo *

GreenRoof software

(Eq. 6)