By Mercedes Quintanilla.

The WELL Building Standard is a metric for buildings and organizations to provide environments that enhance the health and well-being of the occupants. The standard includes 10 concepts, this time I am going to review the sound concept.

Goal

Improve comfort by controlling acoustic parameters and correct insulation: noise intrusion from outside, privacy in spaces and reverberation time.

Background.

– The general degree of happiness of an individual in a specific environment can be used to quantify the acoustic comfort of a space.

– The term “sound” is commonly described as the human reaction to mechanical vibrations transmitted through a medium such as air.

– Exposure to external noise sources from transportation or industrial sources has recently been linked to sleep difficulties, hypertension, and impaired mental arithmetic skills in school-age children.

– A study of 4,115 people found that traffic noise at night increased the risk of a heart attack (it’s the middle layer of the heart) in men and women.

– Many studies have also found internally generated noise to be a key source of complaints, leading to tenant discontent.

– Sound from HVAC equipment, appliances, and other occupants has been shown to affect productivity, focus, memory retrieval, and mental arithmetic in school-age children, college students, and workplace occupants.

– Airborne noise sources, as well as the influence of noise from neighboring activities, such as footsteps, exercise, or vibration from mechanical equipment, can make occupants uncomfortable.

– The lack of privacy within and between closed spaces is another frequent acoustic problem. For example, occupants are often dissatisfied when conversations can easily pass across rooms or an open workplace, compromising confidentiality or distracting from tasks.

– Insufficient reverberation durations and background sound levels in a venue can obstruct speech intelligibility and create stress for occupants who may be hard of hearing.

Requirements.

– The development of an acoustic strategy is required to identify noise sources that could negatively influence interior spaces.

– It is necessary to specify the maximum background environmental noise thresholds that correspond to the optimal levels of exposure to interior and exterior noise.

– A minimum degree of acoustic separation must be maintained between walls and doors to offer sufficient acoustic insulation and increase voice privacy.

– Acoustic comfort must be addressed by regulating the reverberation time in relation to the functionality of the room.

– To support concentration and eliminate reverberation, acoustic materials that absorb and/or block sound are required.

– To universally increase the privacy of speech between spaces, the use of dedicated artificial sound is necessary.

– Organizational policies must be implemented, as well as the provision of technologies to the occupants that promote better speech intelligibility and hearing accessibility in areas intended for telecommunication.

– The implementation of policies and initiatives that promote the conservation of hearing health by projects or organizations is required.