A Literature Analysis on Acoustical Environment in Green Building Design Strategies

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Acoustic quality is important in ensuring a healthy and workable working environment. One of green buildings main objective is to reduce the building impact on human health and performance. This was emphasized in most green building rating system under its requirement for Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). IEQ highlights the four main points for achieving an improved indoor environment: indoor air quality, acoustics, visual comfort (lighting) and thermal comfort. Although acoustics was mentioned in the IEQ criteria, according to previous surveys and studies; acoustics quality in green buildings were not improving. It seems as though in order to improve on other green building criteria, acoustics performance is bound to become poorer. Through review of previous literature, survey and studies on acoustical performance in green buildings, the objective of this paper is to identify how green building design strategies contribute to the degradation of acoustical environment in green office buildings. Findings shows that design strategies implemented to cater for other green building requirements such as natural ventilation, daylight, reduction of finishes and office layout have unintentionally decrease the acoustical quality.

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138-142

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December 2013

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© 2014 Trans Tech Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved

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