A summary of the 2014 FGI and sound & vibration guidelines for healthcare facilities

The FGI Guidelines are the two-volume standard reference document for healthcare construction. Both volumes (hospitals; residential care) include comprehensive acoustical criteria written in code language that are used by authorities in the United States and 60 other countries, and serve as the sole reference for acoustics in USGBC-LEED for Health Care. The acoustical criteria set "minimum standards" and were developed by the FGI Acoustics Working Group, a ten-year-old standing committee including members of the Acoustical Society of America, INCE-USA, and other professional organizations. This group authors the sole acoustical reference for the Guidelines called Sound & Vibration Design Guidelines for Health Care Facilities (SV summarize the myriad changes from the 2010 edition; and describe the public and comment process for the next edition to be released in 2018.