Good room acoustics benefit everyone

Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Highlights the Benefits of an Acoustically Optimized Learning Environment

Learning is a lifelong process. Daycare centers, schools, and universities are key settings for acquiring knowledge. To ensure that learning and participation are accessible to everyone in these settings, suitable learning environments are essential—including in terms of room acoustics. After all, noise hinders learning. The Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA) emphasizes that good acoustic design in educational institutions benefits everyone, on the occasion of Noise Awareness Day on April 24, 2024.

“Optimal room acoustics are essential for healthy learning and teaching,” says Dr. Florian Schelle, Head of the Noise Division at the IFA: “Speech intelligibility must be optimal, especially in the educational sector. Learners and teachers with hearing impairments, hearing aids, or cochlear implants require particularly good acoustic conditions to be able to follow spoken communication. The great thing is: Good room acoustics benefit everyone, not just people with hearing impairments.”

It generally reduces listening strain, promotes concentration and attention, and helps with language processing difficulties when communication takes place in a language that is not the learner’s native tongue. And as an added bonus, it boosts motivation and performance, while the negative effects of poor acoustics—noise, stress, and exhaustion—are avoided. Educational staff also benefit from this and can work longer and more healthily in their jobs.

And there is much to be done, as reverberant rooms and poor acoustics are not uncommon in the German education system. The basic requirement and by far the most effective improvement measure is an acoustic ceiling. It absorbs sound and thus reduces reverberation time. In addition, there are a variety of complementary measures such as impact sound insulation on the floors, felt or rubber glides under chairs and tables, or carpeting in particularly noisy areas.

Detailed guidelines can be found in state regulations; prevention specialists from the statutory accident insurance providers can advise and support educational institutions on this matter as needed.

Source: Newsletter 04/18/2024 - German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) e.V. - Umbrella Association of the Professional Associations and Accident Insurance Funds, Glinkastraße 40, 10117 Berlin