Centro de Território, Ambiente e Construção
Escola de Engenharia da Universidade do Minho
Campus de Azurém
4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Phone: + 351 253 510 200 (517 206)
Fax: + 351 253 510 217
Email: geral@ctac.uminho.pt
@JournalArticle {2207, title = {The impact of urban noise on primary schools. Perceptive evaluation and objective assessment}, journal = {Applied Acoustics}, volume = {106}, year = {2016}, month = {2016-05-01 00:00:00}, pages = {2-9}, publisher = {ELSEVIER}, abstract = {This paper aims to assess the impact of environmental noise in the vicinity of primary schools and to analyze its influence in the workplace and in student performance through perceptions and objective evaluation. The subjective evaluation consisted of the application of questionnaires to students and teachers, and the objective assessment consisted of measuring in situ noise levels. The survey covered nine classes located in three primary schools. Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used for data processing and to draw conclusions. Additionally, the relationship of the difference between environmental and background noise levels of each classroom and students with difficulties in hearing the teacher{\textquoteright}s voice was examined. Noise levels in front of the school, the schoolyard, and the most noise-exposed classrooms (occupied and unoccupied) were measured. Indoor noise levels were much higher than World Health Organization (WHO) recommended values: LAeq,30min averaged 70.5\ dB(A) in occupied classrooms, and 38.6\ dB(A) in unoccupied ones. Measurements of indoor and outdoor noise suggest that noise from the outside (road, schoolyard) affects the background noise level in classrooms but in varying degrees. It was concluded that the fa{\c c}ades most exposed to road traffic noise are subjected to values higher than 55.0\ dB(A), and noise levels inside the classrooms are mainly due to the schoolyard, students, and the road traffic. The difference between background (LA95,30min) and the equivalent noise levels (LAeq,30min) in occupied classrooms was 19.2\ dB(A), which shows that students{\textquoteright} activities are a significant source of classroom noise.
}, keywords = {Background noise, environmental noise, Objective assessment, Perceptive evaluation, Primary schools, Road traffic}, issn = {0003-682X}, doi = {doi:10.1016/j.apacoust.2015.12.013}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003682X15003679}, author = {Silva, L. T. and Oliveira, I. S. and Silva, J. F.} }
The Centre for Territory, Environment and Construction (CTAC) is a research unit of the School of Engineering of University of Minho (UMinho), recognised by the “FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia” (Foundation for Science and Technology), associated to the Department of Civil Engineering (DEC), with whom it shares resources and namely human resources.
Currently CTAC aggregates 24 researchers holding a PhD of which 20 are faculty professors of the Civil Engineering Department. Read more
Centro de Território, Ambiente e Construção
Escola de Engenharia da Universidade do Minho
Campus de Azurém
4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Phone: + 351 253 510 200 (517 206)
Fax: + 351 253 510 217
Email: geral@ctac.uminho.pt