Energy performance gets a certificate. Acoustic performance gets a report in a project folder. A new independent standard, already being used by the likes of dMFK and Tyréns Hilson Moran, aims to change that, starting with buildings that are already finished.

A building’s energy performance ends up on an EPC. Its BREEAM rating goes in the letting particulars. Its acoustic performance, however carefully specified and tested, usually ends up as a PDF the client never opens again. Once the building opens, nobody can tell the work was done.

Part of the problem is how acoustics is classed. It is treated as a matter of comfort and nuisance rather than access. Over the past 30 years, physical accessibility has become part of how buildings are designed and approved. Sound has had no equivalent. Yet according to RNID, more than 18 million people in the UK are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus. For many of them, a noisy building is unusable rather than simply unpleasant.

Sownd Certification is designed to close that gap. It is the first independent standard for acoustic performance and audio inclusivity. It was validated by ISVR Consulting, the noise and vibration specialists at the University of Southampton, and reviewed by RNID.

What surprises most architects is where it starts. A completed project with an existing acoustic report can go straight to assessment for Bronze certification. The evidence is often already sitting in the project folder.

The assessment goes further than a standard compliance report. While a space can meet official acoustic standards, it can still be hard work for the people using it. The assessment is designed to identify and help close that gap. The webinar on 6 October explains how.

Julian de Metz, director of dMFK, sees value earlier in the process too: “Other architects should become Sownd Certified because it brings a very important part of the design process forward.” On live projects, a certification target gives “audio inclusive” a measurable definition from the outset. That makes acoustic decisions easier to protect when budgets tighten.

dMFK is one of several firms nominating projects, alongside Hoare Lea, Tyréns Hilson Moran, Asona and Oscar Acoustics. The first certified Pioneers are due to be announced at the House of Lords on 12 November.

The webinar
The free live webinar is on Tuesday 6 October at 10:30am BST. It will be hosted by Marion Marincat, founder of Sownd Affects, who will take architects through the assessment. Marion is profoundly deaf and a facilitator for the WHO World Hearing Forum. The session runs for 45 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of live Q&A. Attending live earns 1 CPD point.

Come with a completed project in mind. By the end, you should have a clear sense of whether it could qualify.

Register for free
Click here to register for this free webinar.