A round table discussion called “Enhance the workplace with Activity Based Acoustic Design” was held at the European facility management conference in Prague on May 23rd. Topics discussed were the need to see acoustic design as an enhancer of the activity provided by the workplace; standards available, such as the ISO3382-3; R&D; on the impact of acoustics on people. Finally, the benefit on the business, thanks to less time lost via unnecessary acoustic interruptions was higlighted and discussed.
According to delegates at the recent European Facilities Management Conference (EFMC) held in Prague, around 24 days of working time per employee per year are lost due to unnecessary interruptions caused by unwanted noise. Noise that could have been avoided with the proper acoustic treatment. They also estimated that at an average cost of 1.36 Euros per minute per worker, lost time due to poor acoustics could be costing businesses around 15,000 Euros per worker per year.
In an open discussion at EFMC held by Saint-Gobain Ecophon Concept Developers for Office from the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Sweden, visiting delegates were invited to help identify the real business cost of noise in the workplace and explore how facilities managers and activity-based acoustic office design can help to reduce it.
“We have seen that facility management in many countries are more and more in the decision making process that ultimately affects the acoustic environment in the workplaces, especially as activity based design and exposed concrete soffits increase in popularity. This increases their need of knowledge about the impact of acoustics on people, acoustic design possibilities and the acoustic standards available”, says Ricardo Canto Leyton, Moderator of the round table session.
“Facility managers are very knowledgeable about trends in offices, and know perfectly well the difficulties the working staff have with acoustics, so it’s important for us to get their input on present and future needs. This is why we are so happy to have this opportunity at the EFMC this year”
The round table discussion was held on Thursday 23rd of May.
Topic:
“Enhance the workplace with Activity Based Acoustic Design”
Moderator:
Ricardo Canto Leyton
Speakers:
Rainer Machner
Yvette Tietema
Paige Hodsman
The EFMC is organised by the EuroFM and the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), and is regarded as the most significant, all-encompassing educational and networking event for Facility Management professionals in Europe. For more info please see: http://www.efmc-conference.com/
See the video about EFMC 2013!
EFMC 2013 – First Conference Day from EUROFORUM Deutschland SE on Vimeo.
