Real-estate portfolios lose billions of dollars every year through lost productivity, health, sales, and satisfaction due to noise and ineffective audio experiences. Soundscaping can combine human and space centric goals to improve a CRE portfolio’s commercial performance.

Noise and lost productivity

In a workspace, employee salaries and benefits typically account for more than 90% of a office’s operating costs per square foot.^{1, 2, 3} So, when noise causes those employees to become distracted, stressed, tired, or ill, it has an immediate impact on their output and the bottom line.

Given a company of 100 employees with an average yearly salary of just under $86,000, time lost due to noise distraction alone accounts for roughly $380,000-$600,000 lost every year.^4,5

Biophilic soundscapes can mask distracting noise to the same level as traditional sound masking–or better.⁶

Health and wellness

It’s estimated that workplace stress costs the US economy $300 billion annually – or $2.2 trillion when the knock-on effects are taken into account.⁷ Noise in the workplace causes significant psychological and physical stress, and can even result in serious chronic healh conditions.

And in healthcare, noise stretches vital resources even further by causing longer recovery times and higher rates of rehospitalisation.⁸

Moodsonic’s biophilic sound prioritises users’ physical and mental health by combatting the physical and psychological symptoms of stress.

Customer satisfaction and sales

In commercial spaces, such as retail and hospitality, sound can transform the customer experience by encouraging them to stay for longer and influencing their mindset.

Independent client research shows that generative biophilic soundscapes have improved dwell time,⁹ customer satisfaction and happiness,^{10, 11, 12} and retail sales^{13, 14} in real-world installations.

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References

1. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2017). Employer Costs for Employee Compensation: Supplementary tables. United States Department of Labor. Washington, DC.

2. CoreNet Global (2012) Benchmark Survey. CoreNet Global.

3. BOMA International. (2016). 2016 Office exchange report. BOMA International & Kingsley Associates.

4. Terrapin (2018) An Ear for Nature: Psychoacoustic Strategies for Workplace Distractions & The Bottom Line.

5. (Note: Based on a conservative estimate of 7% decreased productivity. This peer-reviewed paper showed that noise distractions resulted in 7%–41% decreases in productivity.) Hongisto, V. (2005). A model predicting the effect of speech of varying intelligibility on work performance. Indoor Air.

6. Haapakangas, A., Kankkunen, E., Hongisto, V., Virjonen, P., Oliva, D., & Keskinen, E. (2011). Effects of five speech masking sounds on performance and acoustic satisfaction. implications for open-plan offices. Acta Acustica United with Acustica.

7. Global Wellness Institute. (2016). The Future of Wellness at Work.

8. Rafferty, A., Xyrichis, A., Wynne, J., & Mackrill, J. (2017). Hospital project on noise, sound and sleep. King’s College London.

9. The Sound Agency (n.d.) Kamppi

10. The Sound Agency (n.d.) Helm Bank

12. The Sound Agency (n.d.) Helsinki Airport

13. The Sound Agency (n.d.) Vienna Airport

14. The Sound Agency (n.d.) Glasgow Airport