Soundscape in the built environment: theory, methods, and application to the field of building ventilation

Lecturers: Rossano Albatici (Professor of Architectural Engineering – DICAM), Simone Torresin (Assistant professor - DICAM).

Timetable: postponed to next academic year

Program:
Environmental noise is a major threat to public health in Europe: 1 in 5 people live in areas where traffic noise levels are harmful to health (European Environment Agency 2020). To address this concern, authorities have provided guidance on the assessment and management of environmental noise, which to date has relied primarily on setting maximum limits for outdoor sound pressure levels. Unfortunately, the conventional approach, i.e., reducing the “noise” level is often not pursuable or not even associated with an effective improvement in terms of quality of life. The growing field of soundscape studies is addressing this gap by characterizing acoustic perception by people in a specific context, thus guiding the design of built environments that are supportive, rather than not disturbing. The goal is the use of “sound” as a design resource for the improvement of occupants’ well-being and quality of life. This approach is of particular interest in the indoor built environment, where people spend most of their time. However, the management of the indoor soundscape is strongly interrelated with that of the outdoor, urban soundscape, with building envelopes and ventilation openings being the main interface. A coherent integration between indoor and outdoor soundscapes will be increasingly urgent in the light of a warming climate, as positive urban soundscapes will be key for the successful implementation of passive cooling strategies in buildings. 
Building on the emerging concept of the indoor soundscape studies, the doctoral course will address the potential of a soundscape approach for the built environment to shape resilient cities, able to address the main global challenges posed by global warming. The course will address: (1) principles of acoustics and psychoacoustics, (2) salutogenic design principles, (3) soundscape studies and its application to the indoor built environment, (4) measurement methods and (5) its application to the field of natural ventilation. 
Within the course, students will be invited to take part to an indoor and outdoor soundwalk, here proposed as an occupancy evaluation methodology, and will be able to test binaural acoustic instrumentation, and understand the type of quantitative and qualitative data collected and the information derived. The course will include guest lectures from international experts in the field of soundscape studies and will conclude with a collegial presentation by students aimed at bringing together applied examples of the soundscape approach to the design of living and working spaces, building technologies and materials. The course is designed to be multidisciplinary, and enrollment is encouraged for students in the fields of building engineering and architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and design, as well as students of environmental science and anyone interested in understanding the sound dimension of built environments.

Duration: 16 hours (2 credits).

Registration: in order to register for the course please send an email to dicamphd [at] unitn.it.