Experimental investigation of the acoustical characteristics of universityclassrooms

Authors
Citation
M. Hodgson, Experimental investigation of the acoustical characteristics of universityclassrooms, J ACOUST SO, 106(4), 1999, pp. 1810-1819
Citations number
15
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Multidisciplinary,"Optics & Acoustics
Journal title
JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
ISSN journal
0001-4966 → ACNP
Volume
106
Issue
4
Year of publication
1999
Part
1
Pages
1810 - 1819
Database
ISI
SICI code
0001-4966(199910)106:4<1810:EIOTAC>2.0.ZU;2-9
Abstract
Acoustical measurements were performed in 30 randomly chosen, unoccupied cl assrooms at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Tests had previously been done in 46 unoccupied UBC classrooms, as well as in 10 of these when o ccupied by students. The results for the 10 classrooms were used to correct the "unoccupied" results to the half-occupied and fully occupied condition s. The objective of the work was to characterize the 30 classrooms, which w ere used in subsequent studies, to determine the acoustical quality of the UBC classroom stock and how this depends on the classroom design and the pr esence of students, and to elucidate characteristics of classroom acoustics relevant to optimal design. The results showed that the UBC classroom stoc k is of far from optimum acoustical quality when unoccupied, but is much be tter in the occupied condition. Generally, many classrooms have excessive r everberation and result in low speech levels, especially at the back of tbe rooms; in addition, they have excessively noisy ventilation systems. (C) 1 999 Acoustical Society of America. [S0001-4966(99)00510-X].