TITLE:
Cool Roof Impact on Thermal Comfort and Temperature Range Effect on Energy Consumption in Tropical Climates
AUTHORS:
Mamadou Aliou II Diallo, Mamadou Yaya Balde, Mamadou Oury 2 Diallo, Mohammed Ahachad, Zaid Romani
KEYWORDS:
Trnsys, Thermal Comfort, Cooling, Cool Roof, Tropical Climate
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering,
Vol.14 No.5,
May
27,
2026
ABSTRACT: This research examines the impact of cool roofs on thermal comfort and energy consumption in Conakry, Guinea, which has a hot and humid tropical climate. A dynamic simulation using the TRNSYS-CONTAM coupling was performed on a typical residential building. Results from the reference building showed high indoor temperatures, with a 57% discomfort rate in the living room zone. Applying a cool roof with an absorption coefficient of 0.3 reduced the roof surface temperature by 15°C. The living room operative temperature also decreased by 2.4°C, and the discomfort rate dropped to 33%. The study also compares annual cooling loads according to two different temperature setpoint ranges. The results show that using the fixed setpoint defined by the ISO-7730 standard leads to an increase of 38% in air conditioning load compared to the adaptive setpoint ISO-15251.