摘要
¡®Necessity is the mother of invention¡¯¡this proverb is very true with all great inventions that contribute to sustainable development. High density and steep land value have driven people to maximise liveable and productive spaces in urban settings. This include the reinvention of roofs?functions extending from merely a protection from the elements to a platform housing sustainable building technologies such as green roof, rainwater harvesting and photovoltaic power generation. On one hand, researches or different sustainable technologies are competing for funding, resources, space and recognition. On the other hand, some of the green building rating criteria have immense influence on decision makers to choose only one between various sustainable building technologies. This paper explores the possibility of combining green roof, rain water harvest system and building integrated photovoltaic thermal power generation to explore integrated sustainable roof design (ISRD). Potential integration benefits including: i) The increase of roof ambient temperature due to the installation of building integrated photovoltaic thermal power generation can be offset by green roof. ii) The energy gained from building integrated photovoltaic thermal power generation can be utilised to operate irrigation system for green roof during draught season. iii) Polluted rainwater runoff can be cleaned via green roof and improve the quality of collected rainwater in rain water harvest system. iv) Harvested rain water can be utilised to irrigate green roof during hot weather. ISRD can be modified accordingly to suit specific needs. Researchers with different specialisations can work together to conduct research based on ISRD and to explore possibilities integrating other suitable sustainable technologies into ISRD.