There are many people involved when planning lighting. In addition, consideration of users is crucial when planning in retail. Most of the lighting “How to” books refer to lighting method or lighting equipment (lamps) based on the typical pattern used in that certain industry sector. In reality, the impression created by lighting differs not only by industry sectors, but also with the main target and concept of the shop. Therefore, it is difficult to generalize based on industry sectors.
The aim of lighting is to lighten the visual target and to create a favorable atmosphere suited for its action and behavior of the space16). Illuminance is often used for planning lighting, yet many admit that creating favorable atmosphere involves more than that.
The objective of this research is to make a chart for lighting planning of retail. This focuses on the favorable evaluation of the lighting environment as in visual environmental index and lighting environmental factors that form it. Finding the relationship between the visual environmental index and lighting environmental factors will help why that lighting environment created by that lighting method ends up to be evaluated in that certain way.
Considering the visual environmental factors, the point of view is taken into account. First, where and when it is evaluated, in fact, evaluator's behavior and its chronical change is categorized into three steps and named accordingly; a) exterior evaluation, b) interior evaluation, c) integrated evaluation. Next, what is being evaluated, in other words, visual target and move of focus point are divided into three categories and named accordingly; a) objective evaluation, b) spatial evaluation, c) behavioral evaluation. As a whole, evaluation is divided into nine categories.
Lighting environmental factors are information taken from the environment (what people see) to create the evaluation (visual environmental index). Therefore, the category of the factors are based on 4 attributes of perception and lighting equipment properties; 1) quality of light ( a) color rendering properties, b) light color), 2) intensity of light ( c) luminous flux, d) reflection rate), 3) extension of light ( e) irradiation angle, f) flux distribution, g) equivalence area), 4) endurance of light ( h) on/off/timing), 5) lighting equipment properties ( i) design, j) number, k) placement, l) efficiency). In total, factors are divided into 12 categories.
Visual environmental index and lighting environmental factors are picked up from the previous books and researches written on lighting planning of retail and basic perception of brightness, and arranged based on its categories. In total, 72 visual lighting index and its lighting environmental factors are organized in a matrix, and 69 of them is shown in Table 4.
This chart is then used to create the lighting plan for retrofit of retail. First, by investigating and interviewing, 4 problems arose; 1) dark, 2) doesn’t look like open, 3) glare at nighttime, 4) no atmospheric lighting according to areas. Visual environmental index related to solving those problems were chosen, and lighting plan was formed. By comparing the result of impression experiment using visual environmental index before and after the retrofit, the validity of the renovation was shown. To enhance the effect of lighting renovation, the manual that indicates the position of the products, lighting patterns and explanation of automatic adjustment by exterior brightness was created. This example shows the usage of the chart and possibility of application to commissioning in the field of lighting.
