The new comprehensive acoustical criteria for healthcare facilities.

Abstract

New comprehensive acoustical guidelines for healthcare facilities were drafted for the American Institute of Architects and the American Hospital Association in 2005–6 by the 500‐member TC‐AA.NS.SC (Speech Privacy & Healthcare Acoustics) which is chaired by Gregory Tocci, David Sykes, and William Cavanaugh. Following two rounds of public review, these guidelines were approved for use by the Green Guide for Healthcare in 2007 and in early 2009 they were issued as the sole “Reference Standard” for two new LEED “Indoor Environmental Quality” credits. In early 2010, following two additional rounds of public review, the same guidelines will be released by the Facility Guidelines Institute and the American Society of Healthcare Architects (a division of the American Hospital Association) in the authoritative, code‐level document, “FGI/ASHE Guidelines for the Design and Construction of Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities.” Practitioners and researchers need to be aware of these criteria when designing acoustical solutions for healthcare facilities. This paper will present an overview of the guidelines. The speaker is co‐chairman of the technical committee responsible for drafting the criteria and of ANSI S12 WG44, which is currently developing an additional new healthcare acoustics standard.