Noise control in hospitals: Considerations on regulations, design and real situations

Hospitals include a variety of different spaces with different requirements and levels of sensitivity but also different activities and equipment that can cause high noise levels. Despite the regulations that usually apply to hospitals, noise control is not an easy task. In Italy, the design and construction of hospital buildings must guarantee the acoustic requirements given by the National Regulation (1995-1997), which refers to all new buildings, and by the new Decree on Minimum Environmental Criteria (2017), which applies to public buildings and refers to the Italian acoustic classification scheme (UNI 11367-2010). However, the need to create spaces suitable for the various types of use entails difficulties in identifying where and how to apply the limits set by the legislation. In addition, there are situations in which, regardless of the legislation, it would be opportune to consider more adequate acoustic comfort. In the paper, we analyse the various situations and evaluate the applicability of the legislation. From experimental measurements performed in real cases, some methodological proposals are reported both to ensure the satisfaction of the requirements imposed by the legislation and to meet the needs for more specific acoustic regulations for hospital.