image: During the 180th ASA Meeting, Ayca Sentop Dümen and Konca Saher from the Turkish Acoustical Society will discuss the effects of pandemic-related noise on people's satisfaction with their homes and how this may inform future design choices. view more
Credit: Sener Yilmaz Arslan
MELVILLE, N.Y., June 8, 2021 -- Due to strict lockdown measures around the globe during the coronavirus pandemic, many of us have seen and heard our family members and neighbors much more than ever before. Accordingly, many of us have been more annoyed by the sounds of our household than ever before.
During the 180th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, which will be held virtually June 8-10, Ayca Sentop Dümen and Konca Saher, from the Turkish Acoustical Society, will discuss the effects of pandemic-related noise on people's satisfaction with their homes and how this information can help inform future design choices. Their presentation, "Noise annoyance in dwellings during the first wave of Covid-19," will take place Tuesday, June 8, at 1:45 p.m. Eastern U.S.
"Our homes have undertaken new functions that were not foreseen in the design stage," Dümen said. "It is natural to expect that need for privacy and sound insulation has increased accordingly."
The Turkish Acoustical Society surveyed residents on their level of noise annoyance during the pandemic, and many respondents said they were more annoyed with the noises of their own dwellings than they were during pre-pandemic times. Though the impacts of environmental noise on people's health and well-being are widely known, the effects of indoor noises are not as studied -- partially due to a lack of need.
"The indoor noise and acoustic considerations, in general, attract little attention during project planning and designing stages by designers, contractors, and homebuyers," Saher said. "It is possible to expect that the pandemic will put more emphasis on the indoor noise. It might even affect our choices when we are renting or buying a house."
Their survey indicated occupants of buildings in noisy environments were more satisfied with their housing after the pandemic restrictions began. On the other hand, neighbor noise annoyance was higher than environmental noise annoyance both before and during the pandemic. Stress and anxiety appeared to increase with the level of noise annoyance.
These findings were obtained from studies conducted very early in the pandemic, so the researchers are hoping to run a follow-up survey to see how people's attitudes have shifted 15 months in and to better understand the relationship between noise annoyance and stress and anxiety levels.
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ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world's leading journal on acoustics), Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. For more information about ASA, visit our website at http://www.acousticalsociety.org.