ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 802

Figure 2: Diseases and disorders due to indoor environmental factors (Bluyssen 2009)
While considering a holistic approach, Engström et al. (2007) proclaim that it would result in the
clear understanding of each component or parameter. Bluyssen (2009) keenly agrees with this
concept and considers the changing demographics and climate change as the main driver to the
quality of indoor environments and the latter would be more influential as it will induce the outer
environment to have effect on the indoor environment.
A broad definition of a retail store would be a place where a retailer would sell their items to
the user or customer. In this study, the retail store is defined to a space where an individual gets
their daily needs, more specifically a supermarket or a hypermarket where there are perishable
and nonperishable goods. In today’s world, most of the population would visit a supermarket or
hypermarket once in a while to get ones daily needs. It is considered a requirement or a part of
how the generation lives nowadays. Amodio et al.(2014) argues that through their research, it is
understood that most of the public while away a lot of their time in retail stores and this would
make these subjects have prolonged exposure to the indoor environment in that area. The two
main areas that have impacts on the health and performance of customers are the indoor air
quality and the visual comfort, which have been considered in this study.
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
Burroughs and Hansen (2011) describe building as a habitat that is created by human which includes conditioned air and adequate space to respire and work. Thus, this habitat is a complex
indoor air quality system that consists of the occupants, activities, conditioning systems, outdoor
elements, pollutants, etc. That needs to be properly maintained and operated to give a healthy
and productive life to its occupants. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), one of the predominant bodies governing indoor air quality states
that a building’s functionality and economics is dependent on indoor air quality, in the ASHRAE
indoor air quality guide (2000). The guide clearly mentions that indoor air quality greatly influences the health, productivity and comfort of the occupants. The US Environment Protection Agency
(EPA) (1989); Fisk (2000) and Mendell et al. (2002) pointed out that tens of billions of dollars was
saved in the United States (US) by improving the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in offices as it reduced
absenteeism and health costs and an increased rate of productivity was seen in the occupants.
Retail stores are one of the top revenue collectors in a country. In the field observation conducted
through this study in supermarkets and hypermarkets in the UAE, it was noticed that most visitors
tend to spend a minimum of two hour at the hypermarkets or supermarkets in a monthly basis.

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ZEMCH 2015 | International Conference | Bari - Lecce, Italy