Reaction to floor impact noise in multi-storey residential buildings: The effects of acoustic and non-acoustic factors

Park, Sang Hee and Lee, Pyoung Jik ORCID: 0000-0002-0328-9175 (2019) Reaction to floor impact noise in multi-storey residential buildings: The effects of acoustic and non-acoustic factors. APPLIED ACOUSTICS, 150. pp. 268-278.

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Abstract

This study aimed to investigate whether different acoustic and non-acoustic factors have effects on the subjective responses to floor impact noise made by upstairs neighbours in multi-story residential buildings. An on-site evaluation was conducted in four different apartment complexes with 100 residents from each site (N = 400). All the buildings had a box-frame-type structure with reinforced concrete slab floors with different thicknesses; two sites used 150 mm slabs, another used 180 mm, and the last used 210 mm slabs. The participants responded to a questionnaire which measured annoyance, anger, and empathy as their subjective responses to floor impact noise. The questionnaire also asked about socio-demographic, personal, and situational variables. Outdoor noise measurements were carried out for 24 h on the top of the buildings at each site in order to assess any masking effect of ambient noise on the subjective responses to the indoor noise. Results showed that the subjective responses were significantly affected by noise sensitivity and house ownership. Those who had higher noise sensitivity or those who were house owners reported higher annoyance and anger towards floor impact noise. Outdoor noise did not have any masking effect on the responses but those who lived in higher ambient noise levels reported higher annoyance and anger to the indoor noise. The subjective responses were not solely understood by slab thickness; however, slab thickness contributed to predicting the subjective responses with other variables. These findings imply that it is limited to fully explain the subjective responses to floor impact noise without other acoustic and non-acoustic factors such as noise sensitivity.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Clinical Research
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	28 Feb 2019 10:15
Last Modified:	15 Mar 2024 07:22
DOI:	10.1016/j.apacoust.2019.02.021
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3033562