Abstract
A sound conditioning system was installed in a landscaped office accomodating 44 staff, where speech privacy was poor. Twelve different conditions of artificial background noise ranging from 36 dB(A) to 46 dB(A) were tested, each for a period of three weeks. The occupant's reactions were monitored at the end of each three-week test period by means of self-completion questionnaires. Eight conditions based on random noise were, on balance, considered acceptable, but were judged to be ineffective and were not considered by the occupants to give any overall improvement. Four conditions based on “natural” recorded noise were also tested, but two of these (office noise and seashore noise) were rejected as unacceptable and ineffective. None of the conditions tested was particularly successful. Such parameters as frequency spectrum and overall level appeared to have little influence, although acceptability and ease of conversation tended to decline with increase in level of the introduced sound.
Published Version
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