Evaluation of acoustic quality in university facilities

Abstract

The impact of noise on the acoustic quality of university facilities is a topic that has received little attention. The main external factors that influence a reduced acoustic quality are generally caused by sources such as traffic noise, public works, etc. Internally, the students themselves are the source of noise. Knowledge of the acoustic conditions of educational facilities allows us to create and develop strategies to improve the environment where students carry out their daily activities. This work studied the acoustic quality in university facilities of different educational institutions of the Community of Madrid, Spain. Stereo recordings at diverse places inside of different university campus were made and a test was designed. The questionnaire was applied to university students while they were listening to the recordings. In a simple way for them, psychoacoustic parameters were associated and compared with the information obtained from the laboratory study.