With the growing interest in renewable energies in the UAE and a government requirement that building interiors must be provided with a daylight source, UK-headquartered Monodraught SunPipes says that its ability to provide energy-free lighting is drawing considerable attention in the region.

Monodraught SunPipes pipes in daylight into building interiors through aluminium, silver coated, mirror-finish tubes. 
The company’s Middle East director Justin Carter says there is virtually no limit to the length the pipes can go, twisting and turning to bring daylight to wherever it is required.
“Where specified on some schemes, we can even run them horizontally to take daylight through ceiling spaces before turning 90 degrees to the desired area,” he explains.
Carter says there are 10 different sizes of SunPipes, ranging from 230 mm to 1.5 m in diameter.
“The smallest size is ideal for areas such as dressing rooms, bathrooms, and similar areas, complemented by the 300 mm diameter system, which serves similar areas but in fact produces twice as much light as the 230-mm-diameter SunPipe,” he continues. “The larger sizes, 1 m and 1.5 m in diameter, are used for sports halls and similar areas, where there is a floor to ceiling height of around 7 m. Apart from energy-saving, there are a number of other features that make SunPipes, particularly attractive to the Gulf markets.”
The firm’s recent major Gulf projects include The British School at Abu Dhabi, where a 1,000-mm-diameter SunPipe was used for the main library, as well as a total of 70 other SunPipes were used for various classrooms and the school’s 12.8-m-high atrium.
“The SunPipes were specified by the architects, Gibbs, since they consider SunPipes offer far better value than traditional rooflights that were originally in the scheme,” explains Carter. 
SunPipes were also used for the management offices at the Mall of the Emirates project, where there was a need to bring natural daylight into the offices. 
SunPipes of 530-mm-diameter are currently being installed into the one million sq ft Landmark Group headquarters in Jebel Ali, other corporate office projects and many luxury villas in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
All SunPipes up to 530-mm-diameter are fitted with a special diamond-shaped dome which is available in impact-resistant acrylic or can be manufactured in unbreakable polycarbonate.  Internally, there are a wide range of ceiling diffusers and ceiling trims available to suit any interior décor.
Carter says the obvious advantage to SunPipe lighting is the cost savings.
“Clients cut their energy costs, which would otherwise be used for electric lighting,” he continues. “However, since SunPipes do not give off any heat, the cooling load in the building can actually be reduced.  Typically, electric lighting will give off heat of approximately 10 W/sq m, which must be removed by the air conditioning system.  In addition, the solar gain normally experienced through perimeter windows can be reduced or even eliminated and again, this can have quite an impact on the design of the cooling load for the building.”
Carter notes that university studies confirm that natural light that is controlled within an environment is far more beneficial to health than working under electric lighting.
“Many studies now confirm that fluorescent lighting may be harmful and that problems of stress endured in an office or workplace can be traced to inadequate or even the existence of electric lighting,” he remarks. “By comparison, SunPipes completely eliminate the need for electric lights to be used during the day.”
Monodraught UK managing director Terry Payne cites privacy and security as two additional factors for immediate product success in the Middle East market
“Because SunPipes are so powerful in relation to their size and so small in diameter as compared to a traditional rooflight or skylight, they are inherently safer in a rooftop installation because no one can climb down a SunPipe of 230-mm diameter,” he explains. “As such, the smaller systems are ideal for villas and palaces where security is always a concern.”
Payne adds the advantage that has been readily seen for villas and palaces is the privacy that SunPipes afford for bathrooms and dressing rooms, since all the benefits of natural light are piped in to bring in natural daylight but in a private and secure way.
Monodraught have recently set up a new sales office in Dubai under the trading name of Monodraught SunPipe (Middle East) under the direction of Carter, who has had five years’ experience of promoting, specifying, and installing SunPipe systems in the UAE.  The company has two specialist teams of installers operating from Dubai but can also organise installation anywhere in the UAE.