A basic protocol for the acoustic characterization of small and medium-sized classrooms

To promote a fast and effective characterization of the sound environment in small and medium-sized classrooms, a basic measurement protocol, based on a minimum number of parameters and positions, is provided. Measurements were taken in 29 occupied classrooms belonging to 13 primary schools in Turin, Italy, that differ in location and typology. The background noise level was acquired during silent and group activities, and the reverberation time, speech clarity, useful-to-detrimental ratio and speech level, were acquired along the main axis of each classroom and in one or two offset positions. To reduce the number of measured parameters that can be used to fully characterize classroom acoustics, data were divided into two groups on the basis of a cutoff value of maximum occupied reverberation time in the case of moderate and severe requirements. Given the strong correlation among the quantities, thresholds were identified for the other acoustical parameters, and their accuracy and precision were tested to assess their ability to classify the acoustic quality as compliant or non-compliant. Results suggest that more convenient parameters, like clarity in the central position of the classroom, can be used instead of reverberation time to classify classroom acoustics.