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The thermal insulation of the roofs in hot climate areas is essential to reduce the impact of the solar radiation. However this can have a negative effect since the insulation limits the discharge of the internal heat when the outside temperature is lower then inside, as it happens with closed and crowded animal houses, especially during the night. Therefore some experimental tests have been carried out in summertime in order to investigate the cooling effect of perforated roofs.

Two scale buildings were covered with different roofs having a central slot varying in width from 0 to 6 cm. Various climatic parameters were measured including the internal temperature. The results showed that the slotted roofs can have a positive influence on the internal climate when the outside temperature is lower then inside, but the effect is difficult to quantify since it depend on various factors like wind speed and direction, internal heat production, external temperature and radiation, windows area and orientation, thermal resistance of the building shield.