The Possibility of Providing Acoustic Comfort in Hotel Rooms as an Element of Sustainable Development

Abstract

The noise problem in hotel rooms is strictly connected to noise generated by heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) devices. Hospitality industry companies in many countries have specific requirements and monitor the noise level with technical equipment inside the hotel room. To ensure an adequately low level of noise from the HVAC system, proper calculations and tests are performed before the final application of the system in the hotel room. One of the best methods for assessing the noise level from HVAC devices in hotel rooms is to create a testing room (mock-up) in a certain available space, e.g., in a warehouse, and to perform appropriate standard measurements for the noise level. This method is a popular choice in the hotel industry because the noise level can not only be verified, but also, the installation and operation of the HVAC system inside the room can be checked. The main factors in choosing the space in which the mock-up will be made are availability and appropriate volume. It is not always possible to provide a hall space with a very low background level of noise. This article shows that the selection of a mock-up space is also determined by the noise level in the selected space. The background noise level—thus, the noise level in the mock-up room—must be low enough to be able to reliably measure the noise level from the HVAC equipment to avoid the phenomenon of acoustic masking by other noise sources (background noise) not related to the measurement. Background noise at too high a level will lead to invalidation of the measurement results or overestimation of the actual noise level in the room from the tested HVAC devices. In this study, background noise level measurements made in the testing rooms are described. The results are discussed, and a conclusion is drawn.

Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Technological Advances, Impacts and Challenges in the Management of Healthy and Sustainable Environments

“…Therefore, political leaders are increasingly committed to reducing the noise impact to make cities more sustainable and pleasant [131]. In this context, Vladimir and Madalina [132] propose that the best long-term approach is the implementation of effective urban planning, with an emphasis on sustainable design to control mechanical noise in projects, especially in sectors such as the hotel industry, which relies on highenergy-consuming HVAC systems that are prone to noise propagation [133].…”

Alternative Method for Determination of Vibroacoustic Material Parameters for Building Applications

“…Also, with the increasing popularity of mechanical ventilation, which is dictated by energy efficiency [77][78][79], it is worth mentioning the use of passive vibration isolation of technical devices and duct silencers in order to reduce noise emissions related to the operation of ventilation system devices [80][81][82][83][84].…”