engleski

Indoor soundscapes at home during the COVID-19 lockdown in London – Part II: A structural equation model for comfort, content, and well-being

The present work constitutes the sequel to the analysis of data from an online survey administered to 464home workers in London in January 2021 during the COVID-19 lockdown. Perceived affective quality ofindoor soundscapes has been assessed in the survey through a previously developed model, as the com-bination of two perceptual dimensions, one related tocomfort(a comfortable – annoying continuum) andthe other tocontent(a full of content – empty continuum). Part I of the study reported on differences incomfort, content, and soundscape appropriateness based on the activity performed at home during thelockdown, i.e. working from home (WFH) and relaxation. Moreover, associations between soundscapedimensions and psychological well-being have been highlighted. Part II of the study deals with the explo-ration of the influences of several acoustical, building, urban and person-related factors on soundscapedimensions and well-being. A mixed-method approach has been adopted by combining multivariateregression of questionnaire scores with the qualitative analysis of spontaneous descriptions given byrespondents. Results showed that several sound sources, urban features, housing characteristics, workingmodes and demographic factors can influence (positively and negatively) soundscape dimensions differ-ently depending on the task at hand. Notably, the perceived dominance of neighbours’ noises duringrelaxation, moderated by noise sensitivity, and the number of people at home were common factors neg-atively affecting bothcomfortand well-being, that partially explained the association between comfort-able indoor soundscapes and better mental health. The discussion points out the importance ofconsidering the different impacts that acoustical factors (e.g. sound typology), building (e.g., house size), urban (e.g., availability of a quiet side), situational (e.g., number of people at home), and person-relatedfactors (e.g., noise sensitivity) can provide on building occupants depending on the specific activity peo-ple are engaged with at home and the opportunities to foster people’s well-being through building, urban and acoustic design.

indoor soundscape ; indoor environmental quality ; acoustic design ; well-being ; COVID-19 ; WFH

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