Why is no one doing anything about noise levels in neonatal units?

Ecophon International Acousticians’ Seminar (EIAS) is a unique event. At the beginning of October in Sweden’s Båstad, it attracts 200 international participants for a two-day immersion in everything related to room acoustics.

In recent years, the importance of good indoor acoustics has come ever more into focus. Very many research papers have shown that good acoustics improve classroom learning, accelerate hospital recovery and boost office productivity.
Nonetheless, acoustics are often overlooked in schools, hospitals and offices!
Why this should be the case is one of the topics that will be discussed at EIAS.

There is great scope for acoustic initiatives that would have major positive effects in healthcare, education and work.
In neonatal units, high noise levels subject premature babies to unnecessary stress. In classrooms, students with low working memory capacity are more susceptible to poor acoustics in classrooms. In open-plan offices, reducing speech propagation creates a more purpose-oriented workplace. There is a lot of evidence-based research clearly demonstrating all this.
The very latest findings will be presented at EIAS 2015.

EIAS 2015 brings together top researchers and others with a great interest in acoustics. The Swedish town of Båstad, an exotic venue for many of the visitors, offers a packed programme. Diane Stegmeier, the author of Innovations in Office Design: The Critical Influence Approach to Effective Work Environments (rated by amazon.com as the leading book on the area), is one of the speakers. Another is Nicole van Hout of Eindhoven, a researcher into how the acoustic environment in care settings affects the elderly.

Professor Trevor Cox adds a further well-known name to the speaker list. He is very much in the public’s mind now with one of his books, Sonic Wonderland. This gives details of his worldwide voyages in search of fascinating acoustic environments. He has, for example, visited the world’s quietest room and a tunnel with the world’s longest reverberation time (it takes 112 seconds for the echoes of a gunshot to die away).

An evident aspect of sustainability has contributed to more people becoming aware of the importance of good room acoustics. Sustainability centres on people, planet and profit. The sonic environment links to this model in a large number of different ways.

Working for better sustainability is not just a way of taking responsibility, it is also something that gives a clear competitive edge. A good work environment demonstrably contributes to improved productivity and, by extension, profitability.
Anna Denell, sustainability manager at Vasakronan (Sweden’s leading property company), will be giving her take on this in her presentation at EIAS.

For further information about the event, see EIAS2015.com. More details of all the speakers are available on the site. It is also possible to book interview slots with individual speakers – simply contact Albane Dushku or Johanna Friman.

Albane Dushku
albane@eias2015.org
+ 46 722 05 90 26

Johanna Friman
Project manager EIAS
johanna.friman@ecophon.se