Criteria for acoustic discomfort from major internal noises in residential and office spaces

Although acoustic discomfort is difficult to qualify (in association with the acoustical characteristics of building spaces), there are some cases where noise limits related to activity disturbance can be clearly defined. In the experiment, the limits of perceptual loudness of noise were investigated in designed rooms similar to residential and office environment. As a result of the floor impact noise evaluations, the limit of lightweight impact noise was around 60 dBA, whereas the limit of heavyweight impact noise was lower. It was revealed that the subjects perceived the loudness of noise from a vacuum cleaner as not irritating. Noises implicated with humans, e.g., walking or talking sounds, are the most annoying in office environment. This paper also presents some definable parameters in the psychoacoustical sense such as Zwicker parameters and ACF/IACF factors along with subjective evaluation.