Since 2006, Soundscape Engineering has been contributing content to the FGI Healthcare Facilities Guidelines and support to the task forces that update the documents. Most recently, we are working on the 2018 FGI Residential Guidelines, mainly through a Rothschild Foundation and FGI funded research project involving a comprehensive acoustical assessment of a large retirement community.
All acoustical parameters provided in the Guidelines were measured at the facility, then compared with the Guideline criteria, and correlated with feedback from the residents for the purpose of improving the FGI acoustics sections. We will be publishing our findings at future conferences, but right now we are focused on the proposals for changes to the 2018 Guidelines based on our research. The public is invited to review the proposals until November 18, 2015 at the link above.
As a Principal Consultant of Soundscape Engineering and Vice-Chair of Special Projects for the Acoustics Research Council, I keep the healthcare and engineering community up to date on the acoustics changes by speaking at meetings and conferences, including most recently the National Academy of Engineering's 2014 Japan-America Frontiers of Engineering symposium, the 2015 ASHE Annual Conference & Technical Exhibition and the co-sponsored Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA)/Florida Healthcare Engineering Association (FHEA) Meeting and Trade Show.