Acoustic comfort in educational buildings: Lithuanian case study

Abstract

To ensure the quality of teaching and learning process more attention should be paid to the room acoustics. Excessive reverberation time in educational purpose rooms causes the raised voices and poor speech intelligibility. Proper acoustic comfort needs to be ensured in the premises of newly constructed educational buildings, as well as in the premises selected for renovation. In practice the success of application of proper acoustical linings often depends on the ability of the designer to select a best solution of sound absorbing products. This article provides a comparison of the acoustic comfort requirements for educational buildings in different countries and Lithuania. The maximum acceptable reverberation time values in the educational purpose premises are defined in STR 2:01:07:2003 and expressed through the acoustic comfort class for the different room volume and the frequency range. Measurements performed in the rooms selected for renovation demonstrate a need to introduce additional sound absorption in all investigated cases. The acceptable reverberation time in these rooms were achieved after applying soundabsorbing surfaces designed from tested textile products. Reverberation time values obtained by in situ measurements in the different educational spaces were compared with the calculations performed under different methods. In presented case study it was found that in order to ensure the acceptable acoustic quality in educational buildings, in laboratory conditions designed textile solutions can be applied for the optimization of sound absorption properties by arrangement of designed constructions in the premises.