Corridor rehabilitation for minimizing adjacent corridor noise disturbance: Palestinian schools as a case study

Abstract

Classrooms usually are built with windows overlooking the corridor to ensure good cross ventilation for the classroom or the corridor. However, noise from the adjacent corridor increases the background noise level for the classroom, reducing the ability to speak inside classrooms. The alternative is closing windows and using HVAC systems, which increase the energy consumption. The research investigate the effect of making a corridor rehabilitation by replacement the materials of some corridor elements including: ceiling, doors, flooring, and wall finishing and adding protrusions around the windows by simulate different scenarios for the rehabilitation and modifications’ s parameters for three cases using CadnaR software after calibrating the simulation readings based on in situ measurements. It is found that the optimal scenario for the window protrusion could reduce noise by 2.6–4 dB, while corridors’ rehabilitation could reduce noise by 8.6 to 11.5 dB, the most effective parameter in reducing noise was the corridor walls’ finishing material, using acoustic plaster could decrease the noise by 3.9 to 7.1 dB.