Acoustic comfort evaluation for a conference room: A case study

Abstract

This paper presents the evaluation of acoustic comfort for a conference room located in a sample of newly built public buildings. The inside and outside ambient noise, interior sound insulation and the reverberation time are measured according to international standards. Regarding acoustic requirements for spaces intended for speech communication, the results obtained from measurements are compared to those given as guidelines and reference values, and which are recommended by some national and international standards. This comparison reveals the existence of a poor acoustical quality in the conference room, and which is caused by a relatively excessive level of the ambient noise, low insulation between the technical and conference rooms and high value of the reverberation time. This inconvenient situation is attributed to deficiencies in concept details at the early building stages, and which is principally related to the inappropriate consideration of the acoustical aspects that the building is expected to fulfill. Some recommendations are consequently given and discussed for remedying this situation and improving the acoustics of the building.