Integration of Shading Device and Semi-Circle Horizontal Light Pipe Transporter for High-Rise Office Building in Tropical Climate

Abstract

The blooming of a deep open plan in office buildings is accelerated due to economic profit reasons. This hinders the utilisation of daylight despite having abundance of daylight in tropical climate. Although a light pipe (LP) provides a means to illuminate the deep interior of the space, non-uniform daylight distribution still occurs due to the high illumination contrast across the room. The integration of a shading device (SD) in a room with an LP offers a solution to create a uniform daylight distribution. In this study, daylighting performances of 5 different types of an SD with different angles were analysed through a computer simulation software, namely Integrated Environment Solution Virtual Environment. The simulation was done using overcast and intermediate sky with sun conditions. The results showed that all SD cases improved the daylight uniformity across the room. A horizontal Venetian blind with an angle of +45^o and −45^o showed the best qualitative performance among all the cases. However, further shading and illumination are needed respectively to increase the potential daylight utilisation in an open plan office room. This study also concluded that a vertical Venetian blind did not provide a good daylight uniformity due to the vertical nature of the SD. A design recommendation guide for building designers is proposed at the end of this study to promote the integration of an SD and an LP in deep open plan high-rise office building.