Indoor lighting facilities

Abstract

According to the statistics by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the total floor space of all building construction starts was 157.41 million m2 (2.2% decrease y/y), marking two straight years of decrease. However, in terms of office spaces, it was a 22.0% increase y/y. The target achievement period of the Kyoto Protocol started from 2008 and efforts toward the greenhouse effect gas emission reduction has accelerated. Energy-saving measures for office lighting are beginning to take root through initial illuminance adjustment/control, daylight-use light control and human detection/sensors. As for exhibition pavilions, multipurpose halls, conference halls and religious architectures, environment friendly lighting schemes including CO2 reduction are being promoted. Moreover, the lighting designs are well balanced with the architectural designs that use natural light from sky lights. For hospitals practicing elderly nursing, it is said that favorable daylight conditions, nice scenic views and associating with nature will help patients to recover. Provision of enhanced dwelling and visual environment is important for elderly nursing facilities. New construction of theatres and halls in the last fiscal year increased approximately 10% y/y and renovations of existing facilities increased 20%. The trend in new constructions is small to medium size halls. Furthermore, small size halls accounted for 70% of all such new construction. A characteristic of newly opened stores and commercial facilities in 2008 was that many introduced energy saving/long life LED apparatus in some way. LEDs are commonly employed in restrooms where light-up hours are long, and on the ceilings above the escalator, vaulted ceilings and to exterior decorative illuminations all of which pose difficult maintenance challenges. In the area of Hotels/Restaurants/Other service industries, a renovation promoting energy saving initiatives with the copious use of LEDs in the entrance and lobby halls in the Windsor Hotel Toya in Hokkaido, the venue of the G8 summit, is introduced. For residential buildings, the use of indirect lighting is common. Lighting designs employing indirect lighting and down lights/pendant lights mounted on the clipped ceiling for the living/dining/kitchen space, and indirect lighting embedded into the handrails serving as lights for the room and the vaulted-ceiling, are introduced.