Abstract
An evaluation was made of the acoustic quality of classrooms on two campuses of the Federal University of Paraná. Despite the heavy vehicle traffic flow on the streets in and around the campuses, the noise maps of the Polytechnic Center campus indicated that the noise that reaches the facades of the buildings vary from 55 to 60 dB(A), putting this campus within the limit of 60 dB(A) established by municipal law for Special Educational Zones (SEZ). In contrast, noise pollution at the Jardim Botanico campus has reached serious proportions, with noise maps indicating that its buildings are directly affected by noise levels of 65 to 70 dB(A). A simulation of the construction of two acoustic barriers showed their effectiveness in reducing noise levels to 55 and 60 dB(A). However, the downside is that acoustic barriers are expensive to build and cause visual pollution.
Highlights
According to the World Health Organization, a large part of the world’s population is affected by noise pollution, which is second only to air and water pollution (WHO, 2017). Goines and Hagler (2007) call noise pollution a modern scourge
This work involved an evaluation of the noise levels on the Polytechnic Center and Jardim Botânico campuses of the Federal University of Paraná
The findings indicate that most of the classrooms of the Polytechnic Center offer acoustic comfort, qualifying them as “quiet” according to Cavanaugh et al (2010)
Summary
According to the World Health Organization, a large part of the world’s population is affected by noise pollution, which is second only to air and water pollution (WHO, 2017). Goines and Hagler (2007) call noise pollution a modern scourge. According to Zannin and Loro (2007), for decades there has been a need for good acoustic quality in classrooms and the subject is of interest to engineers, architects, speech therapists and pedagogues, as it involves aspects of the design of educational buildings and their users: students and teachers. Classroom learning typically involves intensive communication through speech between teachers and students and among students themselves. The effectiveness of this communication, and of the learning environment is mediated by the acoustic conditions in classrooms. Excessive noise and reverberation in classrooms are obstacles to learning, insofar as they degrade or inhibit speech communication (Lubman & Sutherland, 2001)
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