The Contribution of Standards and Standardization in Achieving Acoustic Comfort

Acoustic comfort in the context of the harmful effect of noise on human health in the living space of a residential building can be viewed based on the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO), according to which health is "a state of complete physical, spiritual and social comfort". According to this definition, health action includes both increased subjective comfort and physical health damage, which over time may result in physical health damage. This paper offers one point of view in an attempt to improve the process of establishing evidence of exposure to noise in the living space of a residential building and to support a more impartial presentation of data regarding the negative effects of disrupting acoustic comfort with contents that violate privacy and human health. The growing influx of complaints about the phenomenon of noise in the environment, as well as its impact on mental and physical health, requires a higher level of professional attitude towards a complex-multidimensional problem and a layered analysis of the spectrum of negative effects that imply sleep disturbance, auditory and extra auditory disturbances. Achieving acoustic comfort is a complex, multi-functional problem, which includes numerous external and architectural factors such as: the purpose of living space, the nature of noise in the environment, and acoustic values of building structures and materials. Unfortunately, numerous examples of "bad practice" are known, where the owners-buyers noticed all construction defects hidden under the luxurious surface only after moving in, and the largest number of customer complaints is related to acoustic comfort.