Potential of Light Pipes System in Malaysian Climate

Abstract

Light-pipes system are simple structures that allow the transmission of daylight from the outside to the inside of a room. It is a practical application in many buildings where daylight cannot reach due to building design and limited facade to placing windows. Since roof is the element directly exposed to the sunlight, light pipes system could be introduced. This paper examines the illumination levels obtained using light pipes system under Malaysia climate conditions. A light-pipe system that was installed in a test room located in Batu Pahat. Indoor illuminance distributions and concurrent outdoor illuminance were monitored at a 30 minutes interval for 5 days. The results indicated that the amount of daylight penetrated into the building are varied with less than 150lux in the early morning and late evening, and maximum at over 350lux in the noon and early afternoon. The average internal illuminance levels offer by light pipe system met the MS 1525:2007 recommendation for application in Malaysian buildings. These findings indicated that the light pipe system has a potential as a tool for introducing daylight indoors in Malaysia.