Solar Energy Vol. 69, No. 4, pp.

331–341, 2000
 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd
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DAYLIGHTING THROUGH LIGHT PIPES IN THE TROPICS

SURAPONG CHIRARATTANANON†, SIRIWAT CHEDSIRI and LIU RENSHEN

Energy Program, Asian Institute of Technology, G.P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand

Received 15 March 1999; revised version accepted 17 April 2000

Communicated by M. G. HUTCHINS

Abstract—Daylighting possesses good potential for application in the tropics, where the sky is luminous. But
the depth of penetration of skylight through side windows is limited and can be complemented by sunlighting
for illumination of the deeper interior space of a building through light pipes in the ceiling plenum. Modeling
of the mechanisms of light delivery and heat transfer will enable trading off between light gain, increased
air-conditioning load, and overall system performance and cost. This paper reports the development of such a
model based on a general configuration of a plenum in a test room and a comparison of the calculation results
with results from physical measurements.  2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. INTRODUCTION 2. THE CONFIGURATION FOR DAYLIGHTING

It has been demonstrated that daylighting using
skylight (diffuse light from the sky which ex-
cludes direct sunlight) illumination through win-
dows, or sidelighting, has good potential for
application in the tropics where the sky is lumin-
ous and overcast sky conditions occur infrequent-
ly. Substantial electric energy and power savings
potential (at over 50%) and occupant acceptance
of daylight-integrated electric lighting have been
reported (Chirarattananon and Limmechokchai,
1996; Pornnimitra, 1996). However, the present
trend in building design results in use of glazings
with visible transmittivity as low as 7% (see
Appendix A). Radiant heat gain and glare prob-
lems have led to avoidance of use of daylight in
air-conditioned buildings. On the other hand,
efficient lighting is heavily promoted in Thailand
through a Demand-Side-Management Program
and through programs conducted under the
Energy Conservation Promotion Act (ECP Act)
(Chirarattananon and Limmechokchai, 1994).
The present work aims to develop a technique
for the use of sunlight (the light from the sun
beam) for the deeper interior space in multi-
storied buildings. The technique also models heat
gain into the light pipe and adjacent space.
†
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.:
166-2-524-5437; fax: 166-2-524-5439; e-mail:
surapong@ait.ac.th
IN MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS
In Bangkok, as in other cities in Southeast
Asia, commercial buildings are multi-storied and
fully air-conditioned. Use of post-tensioned floor-
ing eliminates beams used to support floors and
now affords a flexibility in the use of the plenum
formed between the floor of the next storey and
the ceiling of a given storey. Fig. 1 illustrates how
light pipes can be placed in the plenum above the
ceiling of a floor. Ducts for cool-air are also
placed in the plenum. The plenum itself is often
used as a return air path or to house a return air
duct. Accumulation of heat in the light pipe can
raise its temperature which can cause heat transfer
to the return air or the cool air duct. The
configuration of a storey in Fig. 1 forms part of a
facade of a square-shaped model building in Fig.
2.
2.1. Sidelighting
Skylight entering a side window can be used to
illuminate the area close to the window. For a
typical building in Bangkok, the wall comprises
plastered brick (of 80 mm width and with the
overall thermal transfer coefficient or U-value of
3.0 W m 22 K 21 ) and the window comprises
single glazings (of 6 mm thickness and with a
U-value of 5.9 W m 22 K 21 ) with reflective-grey
coating (rendering a shading coefficient of 0.6).
The ratio of the area of glazed window to total
wall area (WWR) is 0.3. The ECP Act requires

331
332 Surapong Chirarattananon et al.
Fig. 1. The configuration of a light pipe in the plenum above the ceiling of a storey in a multi-storied building.
that thermal performance of the envelope of a
building as represented by its overall thermal
transfer value (OTTV) must meet specific require-
ments. For an existing building, the OTTV must
not exceed 55 W m 22 and for a new building it is
45 W m 22 . The OTTV for a typical building with
a WWR of 0.3 is 58 W m 22 (Chirarattananon and
Limmechokchai,1994).Forbuildingsusingthesame
type of wall and glazing, those with a WWR of
0.15 possess an OTTVof 45 W m 22 , and those with
a WWR of 0.26 possess an OTTV of 55 W m 22 .
From the 1985 record of solar radiation for
Bangkok, the horizontal illuminance from
skylight is highest and concurrently the normal
illuminance from sunlight is lowest for 21 June
among the 4 reference days of 21 March, 21 June,
21 September and 21 December. Inversely, the
horizontal illuminance from skylight is lowest and
concurrently the normal illuminance from sunlight
is highest for 21 December. For 21 March and 21
September, the relative illuminance of skylight
and sunlight fall between the two extremes. The
values of exterior skylight and sunlight illumi-
nance for certain hours of 21 June and 21
December are shown in Table 1. Sample in-
Fig. 2. Floor plan for the building model.
formation on the weather of Bangkok is given in
Table 2.
The Lumen method for calculation of daylight
illuminance for building interior (IES Committee
on Calculation Procedure, 1989) is under evalua-
tion for promotion in the present project. Assum-
ing a uniform sky and using a value of visible
transmittance for the glazing of 39%, the values
of the interior daylight illuminance from skylight
for the peripheral zone of the building in Fig. 2
are calculated using the Lumen method and
results are as shown in Table 1. For the given
hours on 21 December, daylight illuminance is
inadequate for half of the area in the interior of
our model building, specially for those cases with
OTTV below 58 W m 22 . Increasing the value of
WWR beyond 0.15 significantly increases heat
gain through the building envelope (as indicated
by the OTTV), but marginally increases interior
daylight illuminance. For 21 June, the interior
illuminance values for half of the space near
windows are excessive and glare may be a
problem.
2.2. Sunlighting through light pipe
Light pipes guide light which enters to the
intended exit in the ceiling at the interior of the
building. Illuminance from sunlight (and co-
incidental skylight) through the light pipe can
complement that from sidelighting especially for
the space in the deep interior of a building. Light
pipes are effective for a facade which faces the
sun all year round and has been presented as an
effective means to complement sidelighting (Bel-
tran et al., 1997). For a tropical location, the sun
 Daylighting through light pipes in the tropics 333

Table 1. Exterior sun and sky illuminance values and interior illuminance values calculated using the Lumen method. The
exterior illuminance values are obtained from solar radiation records for Bangkok using an efficacy value of 100 lm / W
Item of interest 21 June 21 December
10:00 h 12:00 h 08:00 h 10:00 h
Exterior illuminance parameters
Cloud cover (decimal) 0.9 0.9 0.2 0.3
Sun altitude angle (degree) 55.6 79.2 17.1 40.0
Horizontal sky illuminance (klux) 37.8 44.8 6.72 14.9
Horizontal sun and sky illuminance (klux) 47.1 57.9 14.9 54.3
Normal sun illuminance (klux) 11.3 13.3 27.7 61.4
Building and interior illuminance parameters
Distance Interior illuminance (lux) at work
from plane for given value of WWR
window a
0.75 m WWR 0.15 (and OTTV 45 W m 22 ) 5.53 k 6.57 k 1.05 k 2.50 k
WWR 0.26 (and OTTV 55 W m 22 ) 5.87 k 6.98 k 1.11 k 2.69 k
WWR 0.3 (and OTTV 58 W m 22 ) 5.92 k 7.03 k 1.12 k 2.72 k
2.25 m WWR 0.15 1.45 k 1.73 k 291 754
WWR 0.26 1.82 k 2.17 k 366 947
WWR 0.3 1.91 k 2.27 k 382 990
3.75 m WWR 0.15 805 675 137 359
WWR 0.26 865 1.03 k 175 456
WWR 0.3 914 1.09 k 184 481
6.75 m WWR 0.15 407 485 83 218
WWR 0.26 514 615 104 272
WWR 0.3 542 647 109 285
a
As percentage of room width.

may traverse in the northern or southern hemi-
sphere depending on the day of the year. It is
proposed in this paper that the aperture of our
light pipe faces either East or West to utilize the
sunlight in the morning or in the afternoon. For
such a situation, sunlight will be utilized only for
a few hours for a facade each day, and for the rest
of the time electric lighting will be used to
supplement sidelighting.
To grasp the extent of contribution of sunlight
through a light pipe, first consider the value of
illuminance from sunlight for 08:00 h of 21
December in Table 1. If the light pipe system is
25% effective, an amount of 27.7 klumen of light
flux will enter 1 m 2 of the aperture area of the
light pipe to provide (0.25)(27.7 k) 5 6.93
klumens at the exit for illuminating the interior
space. This supplementary illuminance is signifi-
cant for 21 December when skylight illuminance
from the side window is low.

Table 2. Monthly mean values of weather and solar radiation parameters for the year 1985, Bangkok, latitude 14.08 N, longitude
100.63 E
Quantity Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Solar radiation, W/ m 2 (1985)
Global 416 482 515 486 450 391 423 460 397 335 379 423
Diffuse horizontal 133 144 182 200 222 276 243 275 237 202 150 119
Direct horizontal 283 338 333 286 228 115 180 185 160 133 229 304
Temperature, 8C
Mean 25.6 27.2 28.6 29.6 29.3 28.7 28.1 27.9 27.6 27.5 26.7 25.5
Mean max. 31.9 32.8 33.9 34.9 34.2 33.1 32.6 32.4 32.0 31.8 31.5 31.4
Mean min. 20.6 23.1 24.8 25.9 25.6 25.3 24.9 24.8 24.5 24.3 23.0 20.9
Relative humidity, %
Mean 72.1 75.7 76.0 76.0 78.4 78.5 79.3 80.2 82.8 82.2 77.5 72.5
Mean max. 90.6 92.2 91.6 90.7 92.2 91.5 91.8 93.2 94.8 94.3 92.5 90.0
Mean min. 48.6 53.4 55.2 55.8 60.1 62.3 63.5 63.9 66.0 65.6 59.4 52.1
Cloudiness, (0–10)
Mean 5.9 6.5 6.8 7.0 8.2 8.5 8.6 8.9 9.0 8.2 6.2 5.9

Rainfall, mm
Mean 9.3 29.1 26.2 66.4 139.9 156.1 158.7 204.6 339.4 239.3 48.3 9.7
Wind, m / s
Mean 1.34 2.11 2.57 2.37 1.96 1.96 1.80 1.85 1.39 1.18 1.18 1.24
Direction NE S S S S SW SW SW SW NE NE NE
334 Surapong Chirarattananon et al.

3. MODELING LIGHT DELIVERY AND HEAT

GAIN

Fig. 1 illustrates a mode of application of light

pipes in multi-storied buildings. In such a case,
the temperature of each of the surfaces of the
plenum, excluding those of the light pipe, is likely
to be uniform and to differ insignificantly from
Fig. 4. Configuration of the test room.
each other. But in case the light pipe is situated
above the top floor and under a roof as in Fig. 3,
the configuration of heat transfer becomes more
ceiling height is 2.5 m. A rectangular plenum is
complicated. No ventilation or low ventilation is
formed beneath the ridge roof and above the
usually provided for the plenum chamber under
ceiling. The east façade of the plenum is covered
the roof and radiation heat transfer becomes
by 5-mm clear glazings. Fig. 4 shows the configu-
significant. The temperature of the surfaces of the
ration of the test room. The interior surfaces of
roof sections a and b in Fig. 3, and of the wall
the plenum were painted white. Fiber glass insula-
sections could be distinct and must be individual-
tion was placed on the lower surface of the
ly accounted for in the consideration of radiation
plenum, i.e. on the ceiling of the room. The
heat transfer.
illuminance due to skylight entering the plenum
This study utilizes an available test room where
was measured by a luxmeter with a shading band
a plenum is created between the roof and the
placed at the glazing. Luxmeters were used to
ceiling. The whole plenum forms a large light-
measure the illuminance on different portions of
pipe. The methodology for modeling heat gain
the surfaces of the plenum and the openings on
and light delivery developed for the present study
the ceiling. The temperature on each surface of
will be applied to the cases illustrated by Figs. 1
the plenum was measured using thermocouples.
and 3 in a subsequent study.
Heat flux through the ceiling was measured
directly using a heat flux meter.
3.1. A description of the experimental set-up Fig. 5 shows the size and placement of the
The test room used is cooled by a unitary translucent sheets at the openings on the ceiling
air-conditioner and is located in the Energy Park and is shaded in the figure. Translucent sheets
(an open space reserved for outdoor research) in were used to diffuse all light rays from the
AIT. The square room measures 6 m 3 6 m. The chamber entering the room below. The positions

Fig. 3. The configuration of a light pipe under the roof of a building.

 Daylighting through light pipes in the tropics
Fig. 5. The ceiling layout in the experiment.
of the luxmeters, probe of the heat flux meter, and
sensors of surface temperature are also shown.
Measurements were recorded on a data logger.
The experiment for each case lasted from 08:00 to
12:00 h for a number of days in February, March,
May and June, a period when the sun was high in
the sky (in Bangkok).
3.2. Modeling daylight illuminance
Sunlight and diffuse skylight enters the plenum
through transparent glazings. The ray tracing
technique is used for analytical treatment of
sunlight, while the flux transfer (Reas, 1993)
method is used for analysis of the diffuse light
component. The light pipe configuration of Fig. 3
is used in the following discussion. The meth-
odology developed was actually applied to the test
room of Fig. 4. A rectangular coordinate is set up
as shown. Each plane surface of the light pipe is
represented by its corner point. These points also
define the boundary of that plane.
For beam sunlight, a flux I incident on a
surface in the light pipe is assumed to produce six
Fig. 6. The components of reflected flux.
335
reflected fluxes as shown in Fig. 6. Component
R M is in the same plane formed by the incident
flux and the plane normal n. Its reflection angle is
equal to the incident angle. Components RA1 to
RA4 are equal in magnitude and are all at an angle
j from R M . In addition RA1 and RA3 are in the
same plane formed by I, n and R M , while RA2
and RA4 are in the plane perpendicular to it.
Component R L is the Lambertian component
which produces equal luminance for the surface
when viewed from any direction (and the intensity
in any direction is subject to the cosine law). A
part of the incident flux is absorbed, but R M ,
RA1 , . . . , RA4 and R L sums to a quantity equal to
the rest of the incident flux.
For the present study, RA1 , . . . , RA4 are as-
sumed zero. But I, R M , R L and the absorption
coefficient were measured for each surface.
For a given time, the solar time and the position
of the sun relative to the coordinate in Fig. 3 is
calculated by geometrical relationships given in
Reas (1993, chapter 8). A number of sun rays is
assumed to be distributed evenly across the glazed
entrance of the light pipe. The total light flux from
these rays equals the measured incident flux from
sunlight on the entrance of the light pipe. Each
ray is traced individually. The incidence of a ray
on a plane is treated as a conjunction between a
vector and the plane. Each of the reflection
components R M and RA1 , . . . , RA4 is traced to its
incidence on another plane. Tracing ends when
the magnitude of a ray is smaller than a given
value, or when the ray reaches the opening(s) of
the light pipe.
The diffuse component from the reflection of
336 Surapong Chirarattananon et al.
Fig. 7. The division of the plenum into two portions for flux
transfer calculation and the positions of the points for which
illuminance were calculated and measured.
each ray on a given surface segment sums with
those from all other rays incident on the same
surface segment. For each surface segment, this
summary flux is treated as direct exitance in the
flux transfer calculation.
The absorbed flux on each surface will be
summed with the corresponding value calculated
from diffuse skylight. The total absorbed flux on
the surface is used in the subsequent heat transfer
calculation.
For diffuse skylight, the flux transmitted across
the glazing is treated as the direct exitance of the
interior surface of the glazing in the flux transfer
calculation. To improve accuracy of calculation of
the diffuse light flux, each surface in the light pipe
should be divided into small segments since the
exitance is assumed uniform in each segment. In
Fig. 8. Analogous network model of heat transfer.
the present study the light pipe is divided by two
to form an eastern half and a western half, as
illustrated in Fig. 7.
The flux balance principle is used to calculate
the exitance from each surface segment Mi ,
i 5 1, . . . , n via the following flux transfer equa-
tion:
Mi 5 Mid
1 ri (Fi →1 M1 1 ? ? ? 1 Fi →i Mi 1 ? ? ?
1 Fi →n Mn ), i 5 1, . . . , n
where n is the total number of surface segments in
the light pipe; Mi is the exitance of surface i; Mid
is the direct exitance from segment i, ri is the
(diffuse) reflectance coefficient of segment i, Fi → j
is the view factor from segment i to segment j.
For each surface segment, the sum of the
diffuse components of all reflected rays origina-
ting from sunlight is treated as the direct exitance
of the given segment. Analytical expressions exist
for calculation of view factors between segments
for geometrically simple cases. But for more
complex cases such as a light pipe with a tapering
end, numerical methods are used.
3.3. Modeling heat gain
Fig. 8 shows an analogous network model of
heat transfer for the configuration of the ex-
perimental room. Each exterior surface absorbs
incident solar radiation proportionate to its ab-
sorption coefficient. The roof also exchanges
thermal radiation with the sky, while each side
 Daylighting through light pipes in the tropics
wall (of the plenum) exchanges thermal radiation
with its surroundings. In the present study the sky
temperature has been found experimentally to be
related to the ambient air temperature T a and the
cloud cover index CC (which ranges from 0.0 to
1.0) as
T sky 5 0.05477T a1.5 1 14.2CC,
with a correlation coefficient of 0.96.
Each exterior surface exchanges convective
heat with the surrounding air. The energy balance
equation is written at each node with which a
temperature variable is associated. In the final
model development, the roof and other walls may
possess finite mass and finite heat capacitance. A
modified network model similar to Fig. 8 but with
capacitive elements is obtained. The equations
will render dynamic heat transfer solution. But in
this study, all the wall masses are assumed
negligible.
All the interior surfaces are in conduction and
convection heat exchanges through air. The air
mass is represented by a capacitive node, one in
the attic under the roof and one in the light pipe.
If the rate of air flow through the attic is known, a
heat balance equation using the enthalpy of the
interior and that of the ambient air with the rate of
change of the energy of the air mass in the attic
can be added. But for the present study the
convection heat transfer component is assumed
negligible during daytime, in which the upper
surfaces are perceived to be at higher tempera-
tures.
Heat transfer through thermal radiation between
surfaces is the major mechanism here. However,
it suffices to allocate one temperature variable to
each internal surface. For the attic space beneath
the roof there are five surfaces, while in the light
pipe there are six.
The net thermal flux leaving a surface i at
temperature T i (K) is the so-called radiosity Ji
(American Society of Heating Refrigerating and
Air-conditioning Engineers, 1997). For an enclo-
sure with n surfaces, the radiosity is calculable
from
O (r F
n
Ji 2 i i→ j )Jj 5 ´i s T i4 , i 5 1, . . . ,n,
j 51
j ±i
where ri is the thermal reflectivity of surface i;
Fi → j is the view factor from surface i to surface j;
´i is the thermal emissivity of surface i, and s is
the Stefan–Boltzmann constant.
In the light pipe, solar radiation is transmitted
337
across the glazed entrance. The additional heat
contribution at each node due to absorbed solar
radiation can be obtained from the result of
daylight calculation described earlier.
The resulting set of equations are nonlinear and
simultaneous. The temperatures of the interior and
exterior surfaces, the radiosity of each surface,
and the air temperature (if the convection term is
included) form the set of unknown variables. The
Newton–Raphson method is used to obtain solu-
tions to the equations.
4. EXPERIMENTAL AND CALCULATION
RESULTS
4.1. Illuminance results
Fig. 7 shows the points marked E 1 to E 6, E 15
and E 16 at the center of each interior surface
segment of the light pipe. The values for these,
each of which represents the illuminance of the
surface segment, were obtained directly from the
solution of the set of simultaneous equations. The
values for E 9 to E 14 were obtained indirectly from
the values of adjacent points. Luxmeters were also
physically placed at most of these points except
for the positions E 10 , E 11 , E 12 and E 14 . The letter
in the bracket indicates if the point is on the wall
(W), the translucent opening (O), the roof (R), or
the ceiling (C). Fig. 9 shows two comparative sets
of results of measurement and calculation, one set
for the 09:00 h and the other set for the 12:00 h.
The measurement results agree with those from
calculation generally. At point E 1 the calculation
result seems consistently lower than that from
measurement, while at E 3 the opposite is ob-
served. It is suspected that there is a higher level
of uniform reflection than that assumed, which
results in what is observed at E 1 . At E 3 , the
middle of the surface at which the sensor was
placed probably received light flux at a level
which was less than average for that surface. The
calculation results would improve and less dis-
crepancy be observed if each surface is divided
into smaller segments than those used in this
study (where the surfaces were simply divided
into two halves as in Fig. 7). The illuminance
values on the rows of translucent openings closest
to the plenum opening (E 13 and E 14 ) seem to be
much larger than those for the two other rows
deeper into the interior. The rectangular plenum
was simply painted white. Without enhancement
for more light to be reflected on the rows of
translucent openings deep into the interior space
(such as the use of a reflective sheet for direction
338 Surapong Chirarattananon et al.

Fig. 9. A comparison of the illuminance levels on plenum surfaces.

of the light flux), the transmitted light makes little The daylight calculation technique was applied
contribution to lighting in the interior space. The to two additional hypothetical cases pertaining to
total illuminance of exterior sunlight and skylight the test room. In both cases, an opening 2 m wide
on a horizontal plane, and the interior illuminance and 6 m long where daylight exited into the room
at points at workplanes of distance 30% and 70% was assumed to be at the end of the light pipe,
of room depth into the interior are shown in Table opposite to the glazed entrance.
3. In the base case which was the first of the two
The beam sunlight seems to contribute sig- cases, the optical properties of the glazings, of the
nificantly to the interior illuminance early in the interior surfaces of the light pipe and of the
morning. But near noon only the skylight contri- translucent sheets were identical to those used in
butes to the interior illuminance, here at a lower the experiment. Incident light and radiation fluxes
but still significant level. used are identical to that for 10:00 h of 21
December of Table 1. The resultant light flux
through the opening and the total solar radiation
Table 3. Exterior-horizontal and interior illuminance values absorbed by the interior surfaces of the light pipe
Time Exterior-horizontal Interior illuminance are shown in Table 4. The illuminance values in
illuminance (klux) (klux) the room at varying distance from the windows
Sun Sky Total 30% Depth 70% Depth contributed by daylight from the light pipe are
09:00 39.2 12.5 51.7 1.27 0.6 also given in Table 4.
09:30 46.1 12.8 58.9 1.19 0.49 The corresponding results for the improved
10:00 56.9 12.2 69.1 1.04 0.39 case are also shown in Table 3, where the optical
10:30 63.1 14.6 77.7 0.82 0.31
11:00 69.5 18.9 88.4 0.72 0.34 properties of the opaque surfaces were assumed to
11:30 47.1 28.2 75.3 0.57 0.24 render more specular reflection. In this improved
12:00 23.4 27.1 50.5 0.46 0.13 case, the transmitted light flux into the room
 Daylighting through light pipes in the tropics 339

Table 4. Incident and resultant daylight and radiation fluxes in the light pipe and in the test room for two cases on 21 December.
The symbols a, rb , rd and t represent optical absorptivity, specular reflectivity for beam component, diffuse reflectivity and
transitivity of a surface, respectively
Item of interest Values
Base case Improved case
Optical properties of surfaces a rb rd t a rb rd t
Glazing 0.1 0.168 0.092 0.64 0.1 0.168 0.092 0.64
Opaque surfaces 0.3 0.042 0.0658 0 0.1 0.8 0.1 0
Translucent opening 0.15 0.12 0.105 0.625 0.15 0.12 0.105 0.625
Incident and resultant fluxes at
10:00 h on 21 December Base case Improved case
10.00 10.00
Incident light flux at glazing, klumens 234.45 234.45
Light flux through (klumens) 2.14 37.66
translucent opening (as % of incident flux) 0.9 16.1
Illuminance in room
0.5 m from window 76.4 410.2
1.5 m from window 92.1 479.8
2.5 m from window 124.3 746.6
3.5 m from window 174.4 1229.8
4.5 m from window 219.7 2149.3
5.5 m from window 218.8 1417.2
Incident radiation (kW) 2.34 2.34
Radiation absorbed in light pipe, kW 1.55 1.30
Radiation absorbed in light pipe, % 66.4 55.4

increases to 16.1% from 0.9% of the base case.
Contribution to illuminance in the room becomes
substantial.
In both cases, radiation absorbed by opaque
surfaces of the light pipe is substantial. This
would tend to raise temperature of the interior of
the light pipe.
The numerical values of contribution of illumi-
nance from the light pipe from Table 3 are added
to the corresponding values of illuminance from
sidelighting calculated from the Lumen method
for WWR of 0.26, and light transmittance of 0.39
for the same test room where now skylight is
assumed to enter the window. The results are
shown in Fig. 10. The results exhibit the com-
plementary feature of the contributions from the
light pipe and from the side windows. Illuminance
from sidelighting drops off for the area further
from the window, but that from the light pipe
increases towards the interior of the room.
4.2. Results of heat flux and temperature
measurement
Fig. 11 shows graphical results of the measure-
ment and calculation of heat flux gained across
the opaque ceiling into the air-conditioned room
for a day in February. The calculation results
agree quite well with the experimental results.
The values of the heat flux range between 7 and
18 W m 22 and are comparable to those across the
ceilings under the roof of a building but can be
reduced even further with higher level of ceiling
insulation.

5. CONCLUSION

The comparison of measurement and calcula-

Fig. 10. Pattern of daylight illuminance from side window,
from light pipe and from both sources in the test room.
tion results presented show clearly that the analy-
sis methodology developed is suitable and suffi-
ciently accurate, although this still will be further
improved by removing the assumptions of negli-
gible mass and zero convection heat transfer.
Also, the thermal model described and verified in
this paper is suitable for the case of a plenum
under an external roof of Fig. 3, another model
340 Surapong Chirarattananon et al.

Fig. 11. Heat flux through opaque ceiling from measurement and calculation.

suitable for the case if Fig. 1 shall be developed
and verified in a future paper. The additional
calculation results for two hypothetical cases
exhibits usefulness of the technique and shows the
complementary nature of light pipe and side
window in contributing to daylight illuminance in
the building interior. The model is useful in
evaluating the results in cases where trading off
and optimizing are desired. Technology for day-
lighting has not been well disseminated and
widespread application remains to be seen. The
methodology developed is hoped to contribute
eventually to the promotion of daylighting. The
geometry of multi-storied buildings proliferating
in cities allow a limited number of configurations
for sunlighting. The proposed use of a light pipe
in the plenum above the ceiling in multi-storied
buildings for transmission of sunlight is one such
viable configuration. However, it is envisaged that
such light pipes may compete for space with ducts
carrying cool-conditioned air in some situations.
The issue of benefit in terms of light gain and cost
of the light pipe will also need to be addressed in
each case.
Acknowledgements—The paper reports a part of the work in a
project set up to conduct research on daylighting. The project
is supported by the National Energy Conservation Promotion
Fund and is administered by the National Energy Policy Office
of the Royal Thai Government.
APPENDIX A
Table A.1 lists optical and thermal performance
information of some glazings and window films
of low visible transmission. The glazings are
manufactured in Thailand under the standards of
the United States of America (USA) and Japan.
The films are manufactured in USA and widely
used in Thailand. The properties for the films
pertain to the use of each film on a single layer of
clear glazing of 6 mm thickness.

Table A.1. Optical and thermal information of some coated glazings and films
Series Thickness Visible Visible U-value Shading
mm transmission reflection W m 22 K 21 coefficient
% %
Single glazing
Solartag SS-208 6 7 31 5.12 0.25
8 7 30 5.08 0.25
Solartag SS-210 6 7 13 5.19 0.29
8 7 12 5.15 0.28
Solartag SS-508 6 6 21 5.15 0.26
8 4 17 5.12 0.26
Solartag TE-510 6 6 12 5.21 0.29
8 6 11 5.16 0.28
Film
NR5SMARL 0.0508 7 5 6.189 0.59
NR20SMARL 0.0254 16 5 6.189 0.63
 Daylighting through light pipes in the tropics
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