House model with 2–5 cm thick translucent wood walls and its indoor light performance

Abstract

To efficiently harvest sunlight for consistent and uniform indoor lighting, an alternative solution is proposed by introducing 2–5 cm thick translucent wood composites as the wall material for a house model; these composites are prepared by H₂O₂ steam delignification and infiltration with epoxy resin. Although the transmittance of these materials is only 40%, the light intensity inside the house model with 2 cm thick translucent wood walls is more uniform and higher than that inside the house model with a 0.5 cm transparent wood rooftop in both the morning and afternoon of a sunny day as well as throughout overcast days, because the east, south, and west walls capture more light in the morning, at noon, and in the afternoon, respectively. Moreover, unlike transparent wood rooftops, the light intensity inside the house model with translucent wood walls increases from rooftop to ground, and this increasing light intensity is beneficial to daily life. Finally, a light intensity of 600 lux can be attained at a spot 10 cm from the 5 cm thick translucent wall, although the transmitted light intensity of the wall is only 20% of the environmental light. The demonstrated 2–5 cm thick translucent wood composites exhibit great potential for application as a building wall material to capture outside environmental light, especially when combined with a pioneering 0.5 cm thick transparent wood rooftop.