The Italian standard on classroom acoustics UNI 11532-2:2020 explained through case studies

Abstract

The UNI 11532-2:2020 is the Italian standard for acoustic environments in schools, comprised of classrooms and ancillary locals like libraries, gyms and canteens. Two years after its release, this talk is aimed to present some early results based on case studies, both on design simulations and in situ measurements. Indeed, on the one hand, the UNI 11532-2:2020 takes care of active classrooms asking consultants to consider the acoustic absorption of occupancy to reach the target range of reverberation time in a wide frequency range. It was shown how mixing material typologies becomes crucial to reach these targets. On the other hand, adequate intelligibility is needed in unoccupied conditions too. It showed how the requirements could be reached in small and large environments. A selection of case studies—a primary classroom, a library, and a university lecture hall—aims to show some design solutions to solve issues needed by the UNI 11532-2:2020.