Absorption Coefficient for Acoustical Quality in Living Rooms in Care Centers for People with Intellectual Disabilities

摘要

Many complaints are encountered about the acoustical quality in living rooms in day carecenters for people with intellectual disabilities (PwID). Impulse response and noise levelmeasurements are done in two rooms in a Dutch institution for PwID. The absorptioncoefficient and noise levels are documented in the actual rooms. Complaints are less whenthere is an absorptive ceiling; however, there are still complaints. Therefore, the meanabsorption coefficient to provide minimum user satisfaction should be investigated. Thecomputer simulations give the opportunity to apply any coefficient of absorption in the rooms.Five different room models with different absorption coefficient are prepared by using thecomputer models of the measured rooms. To assess the user satisfaction, listening tests areprepared from the auralizations both for single and multi-source conditions for the five cases.The listening tests are conducted with both the staff members and ordinary people. The resultsindicate that a minimum of 20% of absorption is necessary for the satisfaction of the staff inthese rooms.