Some projects and ideas to promote good classroom acous- tics

In Switzerland requirements for classrooms were published in a revised building acoustic standard in 2006. Of course it is important that the knowledge represented by this standard shall be implemented, but how should this be done? In this paper some individual projects are presented, which should bring the topic to the attention of authorities, school officials, teachers and parents. One of these projects was started on the International Noise Awareness Day. The Swiss Acoustical Society presented a website where one could obtain instructions for a very simple acoustic test of classroom acoustics. Recorded sound samples can be transferred to the webmaster who replies with a short feedback concerning the acoustic quality of the room. On the website further information regarding classroom acoustics are available. Some further projects were initiated in connection with courses and theses at the Faculty of Architecture at ETH Zurich, at the School of Teacher Education, Aarau and two Matura schools. One of these projects will be discussed in more detail: Students at the ETH designed a school building in Costa Rica at reasonable costs. Two students investigated the effects of open windows during lessons by acoustic scale models. a Email address: [email protected]