German DIN 18041 Acoustic Quality in Rooms

Abstract

DIN 18041 was first published in 1968 and at that time summarized a lot of knowledge in the field of room acoustics on the design of everyday life rooms such as class rooms, lecture halls, conference rooms, etc. DIN 18041 was first revised in 2004; a second revision was undertaken from October 2013 to mid 2015 to commit the room acoustic requirements for the implementation of the inclusion in the field of hearing and to take into account trends in the modern architecture. In addition to these technical and social aspects DIN 18041 of 2016 with the new title “Acoustic quality in rooms — requirements, recommendations and instructions for planning” gives clarifications and additions as well as deletions compared to the edition of 2004. These changes are presented and discussed. The revision of DIN 18041 provides clear and unambiguous guidelines described as requirements and recommendations for everyday rooms where the mutual listening and understanding but also finding of quietness is of significant importance. The use of standards in education for education facilities will be discussed.