A Study on the Standard for Indoor Illuminance Considering the Needs of the Elderly : Focused on Five Department Stores and Shopping Malls in Seoul

Abstract

As people age, they encounter vision problems that affect their comfort and safety; and thus providing comfortable lighting environment is essential. The purpose of this study was (a) to examine a proper level of illuminance for the elderly through a review of the literature and the KS illuminance standard, (b) to recommend a new illuminance standard to accommodate the elderly’s physiological and psychological needs’, and (c) to examine whether cases of five shopping spaces met recommended illuminance standards for the elderly. Although online shopping has increased, popular shopping venues for the elderly remain offline. Through literature review, it was fount that the current KS standard of illuminance for corridor and toilet in department stores is theoretically low and insufficient and a new standard was proposed. On-site measurements of five representative department stores and shopping malls in Seoul, conducted by measuring illuminance of lobby, store, elevator hall, corridor, and toilet, revealed that the illuminance level of elevator halls was particularly below the KS standard, and that of corridor and toilet was below the recommended illuminance level for the elderly. Improving the KS illuminance standard considering physiological characteristics of the elderly is necessary.