Effects of fan coils noise on cognitive performances in offices

In offices, HVAC systems (e.g. air conditioning systems, fan coils, fans) and other equipments (e.g. printers, PCs, phones, fax) are the most relevant inner noise sources, while outer noise contributions coming from contiguous rooms and road traffic noise. All noise contributions are modified by the room's characteristics. This study focuses on the effects that the combination of different fan coil functioning conditions and reverberation time of offices can have on some cognitive performances at work. To this aim, when immersed in virtual scenarios, participants were exposed to different levels of fan coil noise with different reverberation time of the room. During this phase, they were asked to complete some cognitive tasks investigating working memory, long-term verbal memory, phonemic fluency that are highly solicited in workplaces.The results indicate that cognitive functioning can be modulated by the variables taken into account.