Sound quality in the assessment of noise annoyance in air‐conditioned buildings

The results of the search for a new parameter to be used in describing the subjective sensation of noise annoyance in air‐conditioned offices are presented. The typical analysis technique in this field is to correlate objective parameters with subjective ratings by means of parametric statistics. A common procedure to find better objective descriptors of the subjective sensation is to combine different parameters. Previous studies used to combine a parameter measuring the continuous noise level with one measuring the fluctuations of noise levels. However, this approach neglected the effect that the quality of the noise produces on subjects. As the RC Mark II procedure for rating the noise of HVAC systems in buildings introduced the ‘‘Quality Assessment Index’’ QAI, which provides a measure of the spectral imbalance of a noise, the combination of this parameter with the RC criterion number (which only measures noise level) was proposed. A suitable combination coefficient was proposed based on the results of a noise environment survey involving both objective and subjective measurements. A second survey confirmed that the combination of these indices may significantly contribute to better describe noise annoyance.