BUILDING ACOUSTIC. DESIGN AND ITS EFFECT ON BUILDING IEQ AND OCCUPANT SATISFACTION

Due to our more recent concerns with nature and the environment, we are much more focused on the concept of 'green buildings', and on the need for energy efficiency and sustainability in the buildings which we now design, build and operate. However, we must not lose sight of the primary mission of our buildings... "which are for people", and thus the need for acceptable interior environmental quality (IEQ), in addition to the other objectives of green design. Current green rating systems are only now starting to react to this need when it comes to acoustic comfort and occupant satisfaction. This direction has been led by the lessons learned in schools, where IEQ acoustics is a particularly important factor in the process of teachers `teaching' and students 'learning'. We know how to rate school classrooms for good acoustic performance, now we need to start doing the same for other types of buildings.