Built Environment
The activities of the group include public-funded research and customized research services to companies. Key expertise areas are building and environmental acoustics, ventilation, and their psychological effects in built environments.
Our services include e.g. measurements, consultation, product development, and training services. We utilizes internationally qualified laboratories in building acoustics, ventilation, and psychophysics in Turku.
Public research
Public research aims to produce scientific knowledge that is available in public. The knowledge can be utilized in product development, development of national regulations and design guidelines regarding built environment, international standardization and university teaching. The long-term target is to improve the well-being of people in built environment. Public research projects can be partially funded by companies.
The permanent expert areas:
- building and environmental acoustics (e.g. product testing, measurements, modeling, development),
- ventilation (e.g. product testing, measurements, modeling, development),
- environmental psychology and epidemiology (e.g. noise annoyance in apartments or perception of indoor environment in offices),
- experimental psychology in laboratory (e.g. effect of noise or temperature on work performance),
- psychophysical experiments in laboratory (e.g. noise annoyance, thermal comfort),
- measurements in the field of civil engineering.
The research objects:
- building products (e.g. walls, acoustic boards, machines, furniture, ventilation devices),
- buildings and their physical indoor environment conditions (e.g. offices and apartments),
- perceptions of occupants in built environment (e.g. surveys in offices and apartments),
- behaviour and experiences of humans (subjects voluntarily participating our laboratory, experiments),
- buildings and their constructions (such as roads, bridges and quays).
The public projects are listed on the right side of this page. Projects involve collaboration with national and international research institutes and universities.
Laboratory facilities
Approximately 50% of the research and service work is conducted in laboratories. The following laboratory spaces are available for the group:
1.
FINAS-accredited acoustic test laboratory
T293 (3 reverberation rooms in Turku),
2.
laboratories of psychophysics and experimental psychology
(3 rooms in Turku),
3. anechoic room (in Salo),
4. ventilation laboratory (large hall and engine room in Turku),
5. laboratory of civil engineering (Turku).
Services to companies
Customized services are offered to companies in the following areas:
- acoustic laboratory tests
- acoustic and noise measurements in buildings and built environments,
- ventilation surveys in workplaces,
- acoustic environment questionnaire surveys in workplaces or residential environments,
- product development of acoustic properties of building products,
- consultation services in acoustics and ventilation, and
- customized training services to companies (building sector, acoustics, ventilation).
Services are available both in Finnish and in English. The English-language website listing our services to companies are underway.