Ledesma, Awit J. <br/><br/>
Employee perception on acoustic environment and material assessment in open-plan government offices in Davao City / 
Awit J. Ledesma; Angelo Felix N. Regalado, adviser 
 -  2020 
 - 260 leaves 
<br/><br/> The study was conducted to respond to the concern on the acoustic environment in open-plan government offices. Acoustics, as one of the most essential factors in a building, is not often considered extensively in planning and✓or designing a space. The subjective parameter of the study focused on the employee perception of the acoustic environment of the office. The objective parameter involved the architectural domain, specifically the office spatial characteristics, the materials used, the average sound level, the Sound Transmission Class rating, and the Speech Privacy Potential. Design guidelines for an acoustic environment in open-plan government offices were derived from the evaluated results. The results of the research study suggest that open-plan government offices have multifaceted acoustic complications, varying from noise disturbance, lack of speech privacy potential, the issues on work performance of users as well as the lack of consideration of space efficiency. The use of inappropriate building materials is also an important element that needs to be deliberated. On top of that, the research study does not indicate that open-plan offices should be avoided for use. Open-plan offices, if planned efficiently and functionally with the extensive consideration of the acoustic application, could contribute to good collaboration and job satisfaction that would create a coordinated and efficient work environment for the users. 
<br/><br/><label>Index Terms--Curriculum Objective: </label><br/>Architectural Design IX: Research Project in Architecture--ARCH191<br/>Architectural design X: Architectural Design Project--ARCH192