Conference_programme: 18.2 - Noise in children facilities

Lecture: Supportive acoustic quality for preschools and children

Author(s): Persson Waye Kerstin, Glebe Dag, Fels Janina, Laith Hussain-Alkhateeb Laith, Fredriksson Sofie, Ögren Mikael

Summary:
Preschool children spend a considerable part of their awake time in buildings where the room acoustic is designed for educational purposes and for adults. It is overlooked that preschools have other requirements and current standards are not adapted to these. In addition, sounds reaching a child’s eardrum are not comparable to an adult’s, as the high frequencies are amplified differently by the torso, head, pinna and ear canal of a child. Independent studies on children’s perception and behaviour support a specific sensitivity for high frequency sounds and studies of otoacoustic emissions indicative of hearing damage have further highlighted the risk. We will during a three year project investigate whether building criteria that support preschool activities and child specific hearing and health can be derived. We aim to measure how acoustic quality relate to children’s perception and hearing and convey this knowledge into criteria for acoustic quality that support the needs of children. Room acoustic parameters, recorded sound characteristics and room characterization from about 30 preschools will in a cross- sectional study be related to measurements of children’s perception (validated questionnaire) and impact on hearing (otoacoustic emissions). We hope that the project can be of importance for the construction and design of preschools. An improved acoustic quality will reduce the sound levels and more importantly also reduce the discomfort of sounds as perceived by the children.

Corresponding author

Name: Prof Kerstin Persson Waye

e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Country: Sweden