The effects of open-plan office noise levels on annoyance in Egypt were studied.
More than 200 respondents from 10 Egyptian open-plan office sites representing
different functions were evaluated. The goals of this study are to carry out
measurements to evaluate open-plan office noise levels, to determine if these
levels exceeded the permissible levels set by Egyptian noise standards and policy
to protect public health, to examine respondent’s attitudes towards open-plan
office noise, and to determine the relationship between open-plan office noise
levels and degree of annoyance. Results of measurements showed that equivalent
continuous noise levels varied from 72 dB to 93 dB. Results of experiments
showed that open-plan office noise reduced by 11 dB when users kept their
conversations quiet, 6 dB when operating conditions of air conditioners (split
units) were changed from high to low, and reduced by 5 dB when partial height „1.5 m… partitions made of plastic sheets with thickness of 6 mm were used.
There was a strong relationship between open-plan office noise levels and
percentage of highly annoyed respondents. There were a 10% increase in highly
annoyed respondents per 4 dB increase in noise levels. Perception of unwanted
speech conversations should be reduced. © 2011 Institute of Noise Control
Engineering.