Abstract
Regulatory acoustic requirements for hospitals exist in several countries in Europe, but many countries have either no or few regulatory limits or only recommendations. The purpose of limit values is to ensure optimal acoustic conditions for the patients under treatment and for the personnel for the various tasks taking place in many different rooms, e.g. bedrooms, examination and treatment rooms, corridors, stairwells, waiting and reception areas, canteens, offices, all with different acoustic needs. In addition, some rooms require special considerations like psychiatric rooms and noisy MR-scanning rooms. The extent of limit values varies considerably between countries. Some specify few, others several criteria. The findings from a comparative study carried out in selected countries in various geographical parts of Europe show a diversity of acoustic descriptors and limit values. As examples, this paper includes for hospital bedrooms criteria for reverberation time, airborne and impact sound insulation, noise from traffic and from service equipment. The discrepancies between countries are discussed, aiming at potential learning and implementation of improved limits. In addition to regulations or guidelines, some countries have hospitals included in national acoustic classification schemes with different acoustic quality levels. Indications of such class criteria are included in the paper.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Proceedings of 2021 International Congress on Noise Control Engineering : INTER-NOISE and NOISE-CON Congress and Conference Proceedings |
Editors | Tyler Dare, Stuart Bolton, Patricia Davies, Yutong Xue, Gordon Ebbitt |
Number of pages | 8 |
Publisher | Institute of Noise Control Engineering |
Publication date | Aug 2021 |
Pages | 2793-2800 |
Article number | #2230 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781732598652 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2021 |
Event | 50th International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering - Virtual Conference, Washington D.C, United States Duration: 1 Aug 2021 → 5 Aug 2021 Conference number: 50 https://internoise2021.org/ |
Conference
Conference | 50th International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering |
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Number | 50 |
Location | Virtual Conference |
Country/Territory | United States |
City | Washington D.C |
Period | 01/08/2021 → 05/08/2021 |
Internet address |
Series | Noise-Con Proceedings |
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Volume | 21 (Print) |
ISSN | 0736-2935 |
Keywords
- Building regulations
- Hospitals
- Bedrooms
- Acoustic perforamnce
- Reverberation time
- Airborne sound insulation
- Impact sound insulation
- Facade sound insulation
- Service equipment noise
- Europe