Acoustics, Ventilation and Overheating Guidance released

The Acoustics Ventilation and Overheating Guide (AVO Guide) has been published as a draft for consultation. It recommends an approach to acoustic assessments for new residential development that takes due regard of the interdependence of provisions for acoustics, ventilation, and overheating.    The draft has been replaced by the published version 

It has been prepared by an Association of Noise Consultants (ANC) working group and may be subject to change following peer review and consultation with the ANC membership.

Acoustics, Ventilation and Overheating Guidance released

15th February 2018

The AVO Guide includes:

  • an explanation of ventilation requirements under the building regulations and as described in Approved Document F, along with typical ventilation strategies and associated noise considerations;
  • an explanation of the overheating assessment methodology described in CIBSE TM59;
  • potential acoustic criteria and guidance relating to different ventilation and overheating conditions, for both environmental noise ingress and building services noise; and
  • a worked example of the application of the AVO Guide including indicative design solutions.

The AVO Guide is intended for the consideration of new residential development that will be exposed predominantly to airborne sound from transport sources, and to sound from mechanical services that are serving the dwellings in question. Although the policy coverage is limited to England, the approach may be applicable in other parts of the UK.

The AVO Guide is intended to contribute to the practice of good acoustic design, as emphasised in the Professional Practice Guidance on Planning and Noise (ProPG). In particular, the AVO Guide is intended to provide a practical method to address the requirements set out in paragraphs 2.34, 2.36 and 2.38 of the ProPG.

This consultation seeks views from potential users of the AVO Guide.  The survey can be accessed here and questions are structured to follow the order that issues arise in the document so you will need to have a copy in front of you when completing the survey. The consultation runs until 11 May 2018.