Welcome to the dBx Acoustics jargon buster! In this section, we list some common acoustic terms as well as standards and guidance you may be asked to comply with. If there’s something you need to know that we haven’t covered here, please let us know.
BREEAM is an environmental assessment method which is used to certify a variety of building types, including offices, schools, and prisons. Credits with varying numbers of points are awarded for compliance with various environmental aspects, with the overall score leading to a rating such as “Excellent”, “Very Good” etc.
There are two credits available for acoustics. Up to three points are available under HEA05, relating to noise levels, acoustic privacy, and room acoustics. A further credit is available under POL05 where noise emissions from plant to the surrounding environment are appropriately controlled.
BREEAM is the most commonly used assessment method in the UK, but other standards such as WELL are also becoming popular.