EDUCATING ACOUSTIC AWARENESS - INTEGRATION WITHIN A SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURAL SYLLABUS

摘要

The creation of a sustainable built environment is promoted as one of a number of strategies for addressing the challenges mankind faces in response to finite resource availability and climate change. What sustainability is and how it may best be achieved, currently forms the subject of intense debate. Significant research and practical action is taking place in an attempt to take the first tentative steps towards living within our means. For many, environmental sustainability is of key importance and significant attention has been paid to the design of energy efficient heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting strategies for buildings. Buildings that demand less energy consume less fossil fuel and emit less carbon. From a cursory inspection of the problem, one might be forgiven for drawing the conclusion that building acoustics has a negligible role to play in tackling immediate environmental sustainability issues. However, it pays to stand back and review this position. Taking a broader definition of sustainability, one that includes alongside environmental sustainability issues, those of economic and social sustainability, one can start to make a strong argument for its consideration. Buildings should be places that ensure the well-being of those who inhabit them, with good building design bringing delight to the occupants. In a commercial setting they should also inspire and encourage a productive workforce. Achieving these goals is not a trivial task and draws upon the skills of the design team to weave together a multitude of spatial, aesthetic, structural, material and environmental responses to the client's brief. Failure to include acoustic considerations in this process can result in an environment that has a detrimental impact on the user's well-being. Environments that are excessively noisy, that afford poor communication, or that are generally inappropriate for their intended function, can work against sustainability. The consequences of such environments on the occupant can be poor health, placing a burden on the Health Services. They may result in reduced productivity in the workplace, impairing promotion prospects and impacting on the individual and any dependents they might have. Employers are also affected through increased absenteeism and reduced productivity and profitability. The resulting cascade of social and economic impacts frequently force a re-examination of the building itself. Any necessity for remedial action can impose further economic impacts due to disruption to the workplace and imposes environmental harm flowing from the reworking of the building.