Chilliwack Building
This case study is based on a larger study of conventional roof performance by RDH Building Engineering Ltd. and was also presented at the 2014 RCI Symposium on Building Envelope Technology, March 20-25, 2014.
A large-scale field monitoring study was implemented in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia with the intent of measuring the impacts and benefits of roof membrane color and insulation strategy on the long-term thermal and hydrothermal behavior and performance of conventional roofing assemblies. Three different 2-ply SBS roof membrane cap sheet colours were installed over three different insulation arrangements for a total of nine unique test roof assemblies which were installed on an industrial building located in Chilliwack within the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack is located in ASHRAE Climate Zone 5, and has a climate similar to the larger nearby metropolis of Vancouver, though as it is farther inland, it typically gets hotter in the summer and colder in the winter. The average annual temperature at the Chilliwack airport, located approximately 1 km (0.6 miles) from the site is 10.5°C (50.9°F), and the average July and January temperatures are 18.5°C (65.3°F) and 2.2°C (36.0°F) respectively (Environment Canada 2013).
Sensors were installed within each of the roof assemblies to measure material and surface temperatures relative humidity, moisture content, heat flux, and dimensional stability of the insulation.
Project Location
Chilliwack, British Columbia