Spectrophotometric measurements and ray tracing simulations of mirror light pipes to evaluate the color of the transmitted light

Tubular daylighting systems are designed to guide light to the building׳s core using a highly reflective pipe. The intensity of the transmitted light is essential for the performance of the system. For the qualitative perception of the provided illumination, the color of the delivered light is also an important aspect. For highly reflective mirror light pipes, spectral variations are generally assumed not to affect the color of the transmitted light. Here, spectrophotometric measurements and ray tracing simulations of mirror light pipes are used to verify this commonly made assumption. The characterization methods employ spectral evaluations for both direct and diffuse incident light. The color properties are evaluated for mirror light pipes with a length to diameter aspect ratio of up to 16, using the CIE chromaticity diagram and CIELAB coordinates. For the xy chromaticity diagram, a larger color shift was noted for different illuminants than as a result of the optical properties of the reflective material. Using the CIELAB coordinates, a small color shift was noted for light incident at low solar altitudes. Overall, highly reflective films with spectral variations of a few percent do not markedly affect the color of the transmitted light.