This week I stared by developing the model I made in the previous week. I made some more light tunnels and cladded them with reflective foil just to check that this method still worked with this model. My findings where positive and I realised that if I angled reflective surfaces inwards into a room it could light it very well. This also worked best when I angled it so that the foil would bounce light up onto the ceiling. This is because the light would the reflect downwards onto the rest of the room.
In my third experiment I changed the colour of the internal walls from the brown of the card to white. It was suggested to me that I try changing the colour to something different and it really helped with my discoveries. By using white paper to imitate white walls I was able to see that the colour of the room matters greatly. Therefore it is to be assumed from now on that all of my experiments will be using brightly coloured rooms as well as reflective tubing. Even if this is not always shown in reality I would be running with these beneficial findings.
Experiment 2 (authors own, 2014)
As can be seen simply be using angled foil and shinning a light down the tubes it clearly lights the space well. The next problem I need to think about is that if this was a space within a house there may be partitioning walls and therefore how could I divide up the rooms so that light was still available everywhere. However this situation is helped by the fact that tubes can be passed down all surrounding walls.
Experiment 2 (authors own, 2014)
By using a torch and shinning light down I was able to see the positive results. However with my next experiment I will need to try and either get multiple lights or a much stronger one which I can use from a further distance. This is because if I want to simulate that this light is coming from the sun I will need to make it look more realistic.
Kuglerhaus (2010, http://oregonpassivehouse.blogspot.co.uk/, 49th post)
Having looked slightly more into the reality of this project working I decided to investigate into what goes between internal and external walls. With there being mainly cabling and insulation I believe that this could work in reality. This is because having the tubes would not mean compromising the structural integrity as this gap is existent anyway. Moreover the insulation could fit around the tubes as could the wiring. The only set back I could realise may be that in order for the building to be well enough insulated a slightly more expensive yet thinner insulation would be needed. This would mean that the same results would be given in terms of insulation yet less of the stuff would be needed.
Experiment 3 (authors own, 2014)
With my third experiment I decided to take the advice given to me and simply clad the walls with reflective materials. Here you can see that I have cladded the internal wall with foil.
Experiment 3 (authors own, 2014)
Here you can see that I have cladded the external wall with foil.
Experiment 3 (authors own, 2014)
Although I gained positive discoveries from doing this experiment they were still not as efficient as if I used light tunnels. The light did not seem to be intensified as greatly and possibly because the light was not directly aimed into the space the results were not as great. Moreover the set back of this is that in reality this could not work. With there needing to be insulation in this space as well as cabling this would completely block out any light entering the building in this way and thus would not have any effect at all. So not only were the results found here not as good as if I were to use tubes. But also this would not be a feasible idea whereas the other one would.
Experiment 3 (authors own, 2014)
After gaining the results I did previously I decided to still use this model but this time I decided to pass the tubes directly below the highest level. In doing this I divided up the space evenly and therefore divided up the amount of tubing which would travel to each floor below. This therefore meant that some of the space was being wasted where one tube would either be blocking light entering, or could not be passed further down.
Experiment 3 (authors own, 2014)
This method therefore is not as efficient as it could be. However what I did discover is that the results found are still the most positive I have found so far and therefore this method does work but there is still room for improvement. A possible way in which I could solve this is by simply having gaps in the tubbing so that light can leak into each room on its way down. However I do not know if this would work and would have to test this out first.
Experiment 3 (authors own, 2014)
By reflecting on what I have found so far I think this is the best solution I am going to find for lighting a building block in using this method. This is because this still works extremely well and although I have not tried it I do not believe that having gaps in the pipes would be beneficial, and may in fact be counteractive. It could quite easily divide up the light unevenly and would therefore mean the results would not be as useful as the ones I have gained for the experiment above.
Having talked over my work in the weekly crit session I have decided that it is time to begin refining my ideas and learning from what I have found. As I believe that splitting light by having gaps in tubes is not going to give the results I am looking for. Also as I want to try and make my building as efficient as possible, (meaning having continuous tubing without spaces going to the floor below), I am going to rethink using a block as by building basis. I am therefore now going to experiment with using a staggered building where one floor would be above ground and two floors below ground. This method could be put into practise in a location such as the suburbs of america. For example in a place where all the houses are bungalows and the plot of land is long and not that wide. This would mean that the staggered building go occupy the garden area below ground.
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