Noise levels in primary schools of medium sized city in Greece

This study presents and evaluates noise levels recorded at 15 school complexes in order to describe the indoor as well as the outdoor acoustic environment of schools and gain insight on controlling factors. Noise levels at the roadside in front of the school, the schoolyard, and 41 classrooms, both occupied and unoccupied, were simultaneously and continuously recorded through the course of a daily timetable (08:20-13:10). The average speech noise level of teachers was separately measured for 1 min periods. Indoor noise levels, in all cases, were much higher than internationally recommended values: LAeq,5min averaged 69.0 dB in occupied classrooms, and 47.1 dB in unoccupied ones. Average speech-to-noise ratio (SNR) was estimated to be 12.0 dB(A) during teaching, whereas both indoor and outdoor noise levels were significantly elevated during break time and outdoor physical-educational activities. Corresponding measurements of indoor and outdoor noise suggest that noise from the outside (road and schoolyard) affects the background noise level in the classrooms, however in varying degrees, depending on the specific layout and road traffic characteristics. Using double glazing diminishes this effect.