Acoustic assessment of an open-plan office environment against the newly published ISO 22955 acoustic parameters

This paper aims to assess the acoustic performance of an existing open-plan office environment with suspended sound absorbers below a hard reflective ceiling and low workstation dividers against the newly published ISO 22955 acoustic parameters. The room acoustic variables, such as sound absorption, screens between workstations, speech masking sounds and room dimensions all interact in a complex way affecting the values of single-number quantities presented in the ISO 22955 standard. In order to determine the in-situ performance, acoustic measurements were carried out on site. Odeon room acoustic prediction software was utilised to assess the efficiency of various acoustical remedies such as free hanging sound absorbers, wall to wall sound absorbing ceilings, dividers between work areas and increased height of dividers between workstations. The results from the in-situ room acoustic measurements demonstrate that the required value as described in the ISO 22955 standard is not easily achievable in the open-plan office environment without dividers with sufficient height between workstations and modest room acoustic features. The acoustic modelling results confirmed that the required level for the open-plan office, in terms of the ISO 22955 standard, is only attainable with a combination of room acoustic variables that go against modern interior designs.