Differences between outdoor and indoor sound levels for open, tilted, and closed windows

Noise exposure prediction models for health effect studies normally estimate free field exposure levels outside. However, to assess the noise exposure inside dwellings, an estimate of indoor sound levels is necessary. To date, little field data is available about the difference between indoor and outdoor noise levels and factors affecting the damping of outside noise. This is a major cause of uncertainty in indoor noise exposure prediction and may lead to exposure misclassification in health assessments. This study aims to determine sound level differences between the indoors and the outdoors for different window positions and how this sound damping is related to building characteristics. For this purpose, measurements were carried out at home in a sample of 102 Swiss residents exposed to road traffic noise. Sound pressure level recordings were performed outdoors and indoors, in the living room and in the bedroom. Three scenarios-of open, tilted, and closed windows-were recorded for three minutes each. For each situation, data on additional parameters such as the orientation towards the source, floor, and room, as well as sound insulation characteristics were collected. On that basis, linear regression models were established. The median outdoor-indoor sound level differences were of 10 dB(A) for open, 16 dB(A) for tilted, and 28 dB(A) for closed windows. For open and tilted windows, the most relevant parameters affecting the outdoor-indoor differences were the position of the window, the type and volume of the room, and the age of the building. For closed windows, the relevant parameters were the sound level outside, the material of the window frame, the existence of window gaskets, and the number of windows

Musées et mondes numériques

La culture numérique concerne aujourd’hui toutes les institutions et traverse toutes les pratiques sociales. Elle fait l’objet de discours enthousiastes et d’injonctions pressantes car elle est synonyme d’innovation, voire de cure de jouvence, pour les mondes de la culture, dont le champ muséal qui a toujours manifesté de l’intérêt pour les outils de la modernité. Pour autant, cette intégration, parfois à marche forcée, du numérique dans les institutions patrimoniales n’est pas la seule perspective pour analyser la manière dont ses contenus culturels sont aujourd’hui diffusés, médiés et appropriés. L’objectif de ce numéro est de relire trois fondamentaux du musée, que sont la collection, l’exposition et le public, au regard de la culture numérique, de manière critique et réflexive. Les contributions qu’il rassemble montrent comment le numérique au musée et hors du musée impacte son organisation, ses formes de médiation et son existence dans l’écosystème du web. Digital culture today concerns all institutions and cuts across all social practices. It is the subject of enthusiastic speeches and urgent injunctions because it is synonymous with innovation, even a makeover for culture, including the museum field which has always shown interest in tools of modernity. However, this integration of digital technology in heritage institutions, sometimes at a forced pace, is not the only perspective to analyze the way in which its cultural content is today disseminated, mediated and appropriated. The goal of this journal issue is to reread three fundamentals of museum, which are the collection, the exhibition and the public, in view of digital culture, in a critical and reflective way. The contributions it gathers show how digital technology inside and outside the museum impacts its organization, its ways of mediation and its existence in the web ecosystem. Hoy en día, la cultura digital involucra a todas las instituciones y atraviesa todas las prácticas sociales. Es objeto de discursos entusiastas y mandatos urgentes puesto que es sinónimo de innovación, incluso de rejuvenecimiento de los mundos de la cultura, incluyendo el campo de los museos que siempre ha mostrado interés por las herramientas de la modernidad. Sin embargo, esta integración, a veces forzada, de lo digital en las instituciones patrimoniales no es la única perspectiva de análisis de la forma en que sus contenidos culturales se difunden, median y se apropian en el presente. El objetivo de este número es releer tres fundamentos del museo, como son la colección, la exposición y el público, mediante la cultura digital, de manera crítica y reflexiva. Las contribuciones que reúne, muestran cómo lo digital dentro y fuera del museo, afecta a su organización, sus formas de mediación y su existencia en el ecosistema de la web