A new acoustic standard on classroom acoustics in Italy

Good acoustics is one of the main requirements for schools, from kindergarten to university, where information is transmitted from teachers to students mainly by oral communication. In Italy, a new standard is under development at UNI (the national standard body) to provide a technical framework for the design and checking of acoustics in educational spaces, and a guideline has been published by AIA (Italian Acoustical Association) to provide a comprehensive, easy-to-read guide to authorities and stakeholders on the acoustical design of schools. The technical standard is the reference for new obligatory regulations, such as the recent National Action Plan on Green Public Procurement on the minimum environmental criteria for new buildings, and renewal and maintenance of buildings of the public administration. The underlying principles and criteria of the new standard, as well as examples of application and comparisons with other standards in Europe will be presented and discussed.