A Review on Thermal Performance of Roofing Materials in Malaysia

Houses and residential buildings in Malaysia are experiencing overheating of roof space due to inappropriate selection of roofing systems and materials. Consequently, the indoor thermal comfort of housing is badly affected, especially for low rise buildings where the roof is representing around 70% of heat gain. The thermal performance of a building is affected by the solar absorbance of roof, during a clear sky conditions up to 1kW/m2 of radiation can be incidental on a roof surface and between 20% and 90% of this radiation is typically absorbed. This paper is intended to review the roofing materials and roof colors used in Malaysian building industry and determine whether they are suitable for the hot humid climate zone. The study aims to review the thermal performance of roofing materials in Malaysia. Roof colors on some existing buildings and home buyers preferred roof tiles's colors have been determined. A survey was conducted among home buyers in Malaysian to determine the most preferred roofing colors. The survey results suggest that blue and brown are most preferred ones followed by red. The study also revealed that 70% of households in Malaysia are using air-conditioning. The observation survey on some existing buildings revealed that 90% of roof tiles are red followed by 10% black color.