Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Review of acoustic comfort evaluation in dwellings—part I : Associations of acoustic field data to subjective responses from building surveys

Vardaxis, Nikolaos Georgios LU ; Bard, Delphine LU and Persson Waye, Kerstin (2018) In Building Acoustics 25(2). p.151-170
Abstract

Acoustic comfort is a concept hardly described in the literature. But it has been used in engineering typically to refer to low noise or annoyance in order to invoke no discomfort. Current standardized methods for airborne and impact sound reduction are deployed to assess acoustic comfort in dwellings. However, the measured sound pressure levels do not represent comfort. The latter should include further the human perception of the acoustic environment. Therefore, this article reviews studies that approached acoustic comfort through the association of objective and subjective field data, combining in situ acoustic measurements and survey responses from residents. We evaluated the studies using Bradford Hill’s criteria. Most researches... (More)

Acoustic comfort is a concept hardly described in the literature. But it has been used in engineering typically to refer to low noise or annoyance in order to invoke no discomfort. Current standardized methods for airborne and impact sound reduction are deployed to assess acoustic comfort in dwellings. However, the measured sound pressure levels do not represent comfort. The latter should include further the human perception of the acoustic environment. Therefore, this article reviews studies that approached acoustic comfort through the association of objective and subjective field data, combining in situ acoustic measurements and survey responses from residents. We evaluated the studies using Bradford Hill’s criteria. Most researches focus on self-reported noise annoyance while some others on satisfaction responses. Many studies were found incomprehensibly described: often vital data of statistical evaluation or study design are lacking. The results indicate that noise is a significant issue in living environments, especially certain impact noise types. The use of extended low-frequency spectra down to 50 Hz was suggested for impact measurements in order to predict better self-reported noise response. Greater problems with low-frequency transmission are displayed in lightweight structures which perform inefficiently compared to heavyweight components. Harmonization of presented results and study design details should be taken into account for future articles.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Acoustic comfort, association, field measurements, indicators, subjective responses
in
Building Acoustics
volume
25
issue
2
pages
151 - 170
publisher
Multi-Science Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:85046014168
ISSN
1351-010X
DOI
10.1177/1351010X18762687
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f7ea8fd6-2cdc-44f8-aa2b-754aaecac35c
date added to LUP
2018-05-15 13:21:09
date last changed
2022-04-25 07:19:59
@article{f7ea8fd6-2cdc-44f8-aa2b-754aaecac35c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Acoustic comfort is a concept hardly described in the literature. But it has been used in engineering typically to refer to low noise or annoyance in order to invoke no discomfort. Current standardized methods for airborne and impact sound reduction are deployed to assess acoustic comfort in dwellings. However, the measured sound pressure levels do not represent comfort. The latter should include further the human perception of the acoustic environment. Therefore, this article reviews studies that approached acoustic comfort through the association of objective and subjective field data, combining in situ acoustic measurements and survey responses from residents. We evaluated the studies using Bradford Hill’s criteria. Most researches focus on self-reported noise annoyance while some others on satisfaction responses. Many studies were found incomprehensibly described: often vital data of statistical evaluation or study design are lacking. The results indicate that noise is a significant issue in living environments, especially certain impact noise types. The use of extended low-frequency spectra down to 50 Hz was suggested for impact measurements in order to predict better self-reported noise response. Greater problems with low-frequency transmission are displayed in lightweight structures which perform inefficiently compared to heavyweight components. Harmonization of presented results and study design details should be taken into account for future articles.</p>}},
  author       = {{Vardaxis, Nikolaos Georgios and Bard, Delphine and Persson Waye, Kerstin}},
  issn         = {{1351-010X}},
  keywords     = {{Acoustic comfort; association; field measurements; indicators; subjective responses}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{151--170}},
  publisher    = {{Multi-Science Publishing}},
  series       = {{Building Acoustics}},
  title        = {{Review of acoustic comfort evaluation in dwellings—part I : Associations of acoustic field data to subjective responses from building surveys}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1351010X18762687}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/1351010X18762687}},
  volume       = {{25}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}