Noise exposure ‘the new secondhand smoke’ - How is it addressed in building certification schemes

Abstract

(introduction) Building certification schemes have expanded to include both the environmental impact of the construction and operation of the building, as well as the building’s influence on the occupants. Drawing attention to the indoor environmental quality, thus the well-being of the occupants, means evaluating a building’s impact on all 5 of the human senses. Hearing, acoustics, can easily be overlooked, but distracting sound can affect our bodies in more ways than we may realize.Buildings that provide a pleasant indoor acoustic environment, allow employees to be more productive, students to learn easier and hospital patients to recover quicker. A survey concluded that 75% of office employees list noise as an important workplace feature, yet only 30% are satisfied with the noise levels in their office. In schools, up to 70% of the consonants spoken by teachers cannot be heard by pupils.A survey of the countries in the EU, requested by the EC, showed that 80% of respondents believed that noise affects their health, either to some or to a great extent. Additionally, noisy environments increase physical and mental risks for example hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. As such, it links to SDG 3 “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”.(method) An analysis of the specific room acoustic requirements for open offices, which is the biggest building segment for green building schemes, and schools is the key component of the study. The analysis compares the quantitative requirements such as reverberation time and absorption area in 4 schemes (LEED, BREEAM, DGNB and WELL) to 8 national building regulations in Europe. As the building regulations only exist in their national languages these in depth comparisons are not common.(results & conclusions) This comparison shows that several schemes do not require the anyhow legally required thresholds whereas few schemes go beyond.