Associations between indoor soundscapes, building services and window opening behaviour during the COVID-19 lockdown

Torresin, Simone; Albatici, Rossano; Aletta, Francesco; Babich, Francesco; Oberman, Tin; Kang, Jian

doi:10.1177/01436244211054443

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Observing the use of curtains among the participants, it was found that most of the isolators chose to keep the curtains opened except during sleep and on rainy days. It supports the results of the study [66][67][68] that people in isolation need more daylight and a view from the window. In addition, students may be in a better psychological state when exposed to more artwork and greenery [69,70].…”

Section: Environment Adjusting Behavior and Purposesupporting

confidence: 86%

Psychological State and Subjective Environmental Perception of College Students Residing in Dormitories during Quarantine: A Case Study

Mao

Tang

et al. 2023

Buildings

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Quarantine is one of the effective approaches to control the spread of COVID-19. However, prolonged isolation may harm the health of residents, especially students, who are quarantined in dormitories. This study surveyed students’ behaviors, living environment, and psychological state through an online questionnaire. The results showed that during the isolation period, the participants’ discomfort mainly came from high temperatures, high humidity, loud sounds, and dark lighting. Moreover, about half of the students experienced severe anxiety or depression, with poor sleep and an unclear mind being the most common problems. Additionally, this study focused on exploring the correlations between environmental perceptions and the psychological state of isolated students, that were identified to be significant. Furthermore, as isolation time was prolonged, the psychological state of isolated students worsened, and the most significant factor changed from thermal sensations to acoustic sensations. Interestingly, the psychological state of males was worse than females, and they were more easily affected by their thermal and acoustic environments. Therefore, keeping the environment comfortable has a positive influence on maintaining the good psychological condition of people in isolation. This study can provide suggestions for the improvement of indoor environments and for the mental health of people in isolation and in other similar situations.

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Section: Environment Adjusting Behavior and Purposesupporting

confidence: 86%

Psychological State and Subjective Environmental Perception of College Students Residing in Dormitories during Quarantine: A Case Study

Mao

Tang

et al. 2023

Buildings

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“…A perceived importance of dominance of building services in the indoor soundscape, as compared with natural ventilation, which was found to be preferable in a second study by the same team (Torresin et al 2022). The use of natural ventilation was seen as preferable for reducing GHG emissions (compared to air conditioning), however levels of outdoor noise or air pollution could limit uptake of this option (Torresin et al 2021a).…”

Section: Air Pollution and The Interface Between Outdoor And Indoor E...mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The indoor environment became increasingly important during the lockdown, and studies considering the home working space were numerous, but out of scope for this study. One set of work addressed a combination of ventilation, window opening behaviour and indoor soundscapes for dwellings in the UK and Italy (Torresin et al 2021a). The primary difference between dwellings was the availability of air cooling systems in Italy, compared to window opening in the UK.…”

Section: Air Pollution and The Interface Between Outdoor And Indoor E...mentioning

confidence: 99%

What impact have COVID-19 induced changes in working practice had on greenhouse gas emissions? A rapid review

Spear

Willcock

Ormondroyd

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The changes in working practice over the pandemic went through several distinct phases: the initial ‘lockdown’ period, a period of relaxation in some restrictions, and a longer-term period where working from home (WFH) was preferred if possible but many other aspects of life returned to near-normal. This Rapid Review was accompanied by high level life cycle assessment (LCA), to quantify the environmental profile of products, processes and behaviours based on energy use and commuting activity of office workers over a 7 day period. We aimed to describe trends in environmental effects, specifically regarding greenhouse gas emissions relating to energy usage and commuting behaviour, during the pandemic. For the rapid literature review, 32 studies were identified. § Rapid Review findings corroborated the life cycle assessment findings that energy for space heating (both at home and in the office) and transport dominated the greenhouse gas emissions profile.§ Domestic energy consumption remained elevated after easing restrictions with a displacement of energy normally consumed in business premises.§ Overall, there was a net reduction in consumption and greenhouse gas emissions with greater working from home.§ There has been a shift away from public transport with a negative effect on greenhouse gas emissions.§ Travel distance and mode of transport are significant factors in determining the magnitude of benefits seen when working from home.§ Air quality is reported to have been affected by the lockdown period, but no studies have directly evaluated the working from home component of this.For the Life cycle assessment, analysis was based on 10 workers at home or in an office in typical UK housing and a typical office with two transport options for commuting (car and train), over 7 days. A clear benefit was seen in reducing greenhouse gas emissions for working from home compared to office work with travel by car, and a smaller benefit for working from home compared to office work by train. The working from home scenario had significantly lower impact than both the car and train commute scenarios on marine ecotoxicity and freshwater ecotoxicity indicators.

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“…Additionally, in London, Torresin and colleagues conducted an online survey to characterize the indoor soundscape during confinement [102][103][104][105]. The survey targeted London residents who worked from home during confinement, focusing on two activities performed at home during the pandemic: working and relaxing.…”

Section: Buildings and Homesmentioning

confidence: 99%

How the COVID-19 Pandemic Muted and Remixed the World’s Acoustics for a While

2022

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Purpose of ReviewThis review aims to analyze the effects of the pandemic on the world's sound environment. Recent Findings The confinements associated with the pandemic led to a reduction in sound levels worldwide and a change in the perception of soundscapes in the absence of traffic noise and human-generated noise. Summary In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries and regions around the world adopted a series of interventions in 2020 that have been referred to as "lockdown" or "confinement." These sets of restrictions had a clear and obvious consequence derived from the absence of people in the streets and the reduction of daily activity and commuting, which caused an unprecedented silencing on a large scale. Along with the silence that ensued, the pandemic and the confinements affected acoustics and our relationship with sounds on different scales. In the cities, this phenomenon had a strong reduction in acoustic intensity due to the absence of vehicles on the streets. Perhaps this was more perceptible in our neighborhoods, with notable changes in their soundscapes, first due to the absence of people in the streets and later due to more outdoor activity derived from the fear of the spread of the virus in indoor spaces. The longer periods of time spent in our homes during the lockdowns also highlighted the importance of sound insulation in buildings and the acoustic conditioning of our schools or homes.

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Associations between indoor soundscapes, building services and window opening behaviour during the COVID-19 lockdown

Cited by 16 publications

References 46 publications

Psychological State and Subjective Environmental Perception of College Students Residing in Dormitories during Quarantine: A Case Study

Psychological State and Subjective Environmental Perception of College Students Residing in Dormitories during Quarantine: A Case Study

What impact have COVID-19 induced changes in working practice had on greenhouse gas emissions? A rapid review

How the COVID-19 Pandemic Muted and Remixed the World’s Acoustics for a While

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