Subjective and objective acoustical quality in healthcare office facilities

Abstract

This paper discusses acoustical quality in 17 healthcare office facilities. A subjective survey assessed office worker perceptions of their environments and satisfaction with the acoustics. Self-reported productivity, well-being, and health outcomes were also captured. Satisfaction was lower with acoustics than with other aspects of IEQ. Satisfaction results were related to room type and the absence or presence of a sound-masking system. Physical acoustical measurements were made in six types of rooms, some with sound-masking systems, to determine the acoustical characteristics, assess their quality and relate them to the building designs. Background-noise levels were measured in the occupied buildings. In the unoccupied buildings, measurements were made of reverberation times, and “speech” levels needed to calculate speech intelligibility indices for speech intelligibility and speech privacy. In open offices, sound-level reductions per distance doubling (DL2) were measured. The results are presented, and are related to room type and partition design. The knowledge gained from this study informs the decision-making of designers and facilities management for upgrades and future design projects.