Noise exposure 'the new secondhand smoke' - How is it addressed in building certification schemes

(introduction) Buildings that provide a pleasant indoor acoustic environment, allow employees to be more productive, students to learn easier and hospital patients to recover quicker. A survey concluded that 75% of office employees list noise as an important workplace feature, yet only 30% are satisfied with the noise levels in their office. A survey of the countries in the EU showed that 80% of respondents believed that noise affects their health, either to some or to a great extent. Additionally, noisy environments increase physical and mental risks for example hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. Building certification schemes have expanded to include the building's influence on the occupants. (method) An analysis of the specific room acoustic requirements for open offices, which is the biggest building segment for green building schemes is the key component of the study. The analysis compares the quantitative requirements such as reverberation time and absorption area in 4 schemes (LEED, BREEAM, DGNB and WELL) to 8 national building regulations in Europe. As the building regulations only exist in their national languages these in depth comparisons are not common.