The conditions in a facility can have a major impact on its occupants, reports USA Today.
Gosh, imagine that.
It seems hotel owners, developers and architects are taking a greater interest in noise problems and acoustics affecting their facilities. From in-house renovations and nearby construction to noisy in-room air conditioners and too-loud neighbors, noise is becoming a higher priority for travelers, which means it’s becoming a bottom-line issue for hotels. As the newspaper headline puts it, “Loudness Does Cost Hotels Money in the Long Run.”
Maintenance and engineering managers in these hotels are dealing with an issue their counterparts in hospitals, K-12 schools, and colleges and universities have confronted for years — namely, ensuring facilities provide an environment that is safe and comfortable.
Whether the occupants are weary travelers, test-taking students, or recuperating patients, they tend to be happier and perform better when facilities help make them more comfortable, or at least don’t get in the way of their performance.
Solutions to the problem can be either relatively simple — alerting occupants that conditions might be noisy — to very complex — retrofitting the entire HVAC system to eliminate equipment noise. Ideally, architects will address this issue during the design phase, but existing facilities face a narrower range of options.
There can be an upside for managers to such issues: Any situation that focuses the attention of owners and top-level executives on facility conditions and performance helps them better understand just how difficult managers’ jobs can be — and just how important proper attention to maintenance and engineering can be to an organization’s bottom line.