What is reverberation?
A reverberation is the overall effect of reflected sound and the time required for reflected sound to become inaudible. Short
reverberation times are good for speech intelligibility in learning spaces.
Why is it important?
Teachers and students will do their best in an environment that is conducive to learning. A poor acoustical environment will
often increase stress and decrease concentration, especially with younger children, students for whom English is a second
language, students with learning disabilities and the hearing impaired. It can also contribute to teacher “burnout” caused
by the stress of talking “over” the noise.
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| This new, interactive tool helps you calculate reverberation time and hear the difference! |
| Five Simple Steps: |
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Describe the space |
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See recommended guidelines |
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Select surface materials |
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The program will calculate the current reverberation time |
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Select treatment materials for your space to meet the reverberation recommendation and hear the difference, before and after! |
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Don't forget to click to get started! |
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Don't forget to e-mail or print the summary to share with others.
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Classroom acoustics and ANSI S12.60 [ ANSI S12.60-2002: now available online at no cost]
ANSI Standard S12.60 for Classroom Acoustics addresses the issues of both reverberation time and background noise and their
effect on speech intelligibility by placing maximum permissible levels on each.
Under the new standard, the maximum reverberation time in an unoccupied, furnished classroom with a volume under 10,000 cubic
feet is 0.6 seconds, and 0.7 seconds for a classroom between 10,000 and 20,000 cubic feet. The maximum level of background
noise allowed in the same classroom is 35 decibels (dBA). Learn more . . .
