Acoustics By Design Honored As One of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Country!
For the first time in its history, the National Association for Business Resources has named the Best and Brightest Companies To Work For™ in the country. And guess what? Acoustics By Design made the list, alongside companies like Verizon Wireless, Henry Ford Health System, Amway, and American Academy of Pediatrics. (more)
The National Council of Acoustical Consultants & the American Institute of Architects
The National Council of Acoustical Consultants (NCAC) is the only North American organization fully devoted to certifying the credentials of acoustical consultants. Kenric Van Wyk, President of Acoustics By Design, was elected to the NCAC Board of Directors in 2006. He has served as the Vice President of Finance, and was recently elected as the Vice President of Marketing and Communications. To join the NCAC, acoustical engineering firms have to be completely independent with no ties to any product manufacturers or distributors. This ensures that each firm provides objective recommendations that are free from bias. Since 1962, the NCAC has supported the acoustical profession through:
- recognizing expert Acoustical Consultants and Engineers.
- promoting opportunities for peer interaction.
- providing a reference tool for the public to learn more about the profession and to find a consultant matched to their needs. (more)
Acoustics By Design was recently honored by the Michigan Business & Professional Association as one of “West Michigan’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For.” 2011 marks the fifth consecutive year that ABD has received the award. (more)
Quality, Service, and Price – How Acoustical Consultants Stack Up
Recently a client called to say they were trying to make a decision between our acoustical engineering firm and another acoustician for a church project they were working on. The client had received proposals from Acoustics By Design and another firm, but wanted to discuss the topic from a “quality, service, and price” perspective. So what did I tell him? (more)
LEED for Healthcare Acoustic Points
The new LEED for Healthcare system allows up to two points for acoustics under the IEQ Credit 2 Acoustic Environment. Its intent is to “provide building occupants with an indoor healing environment free of intrusive or disruptive levels of sound.” Points can be earned by meeting requirements for increased sound isolation between rooms, reduced room noise levels, controlled reverberation time (acoustical finishes), and reduced site exterior noise. (more)
Video Wall Design Considerations for Corporate Webcast Auditoriums
Out of curiosity, we asked one of our current clients what made them pick Acoustics By Design to be their audio-video consultant for their corporate webcast auditorium project. We beat out several national AVL consulting firms to get the project, so what made the difference? Well, there were a list of reasons why ABD was the best fit. One reason was that we took time to understand the client’s vision, and that we proposed the concept of a video wall rather than the traditional approach of using several projectors to accomplish their complex webcasts. Cool. So why did we pitch the idea in the first place? (more)
How Does 3DTV Work, and Is It Just a Gimmick?
With visions of dollar signs dancing in their heads, manufacturers are foaming at the mouth thinking of how they can make 3D Television sets the next big thing. But if I want to watch a 3D movie at home, do I really need to throw out my HDTV and buy a new 3DTV? I mean, I can currently watch 3D movies on my HDTV at home with my 3D glasses, so what does 3DTV offer that my “normal” HDTV doesn’t? I need a filter to sort through all the hype. (more)
Apples, Oranges, and Sharp Pencils
In the world of sales idioms, you never want to compare “apples with oranges”, but you always want the salesperson to “sharpen their pencil.” You don’t want to compare two unlike things, but you do want to make sure you get the best possible price. So, in the world of audio-video design, how do you know that you are comparing apples with apples and making the right purchase for the right price? (more)
How Today’s Teachers Use Classroom Display Technology
Kids today have it all: the cell phone, the iPod, the iPad, the internet, digital cameras, video games, laptops – ahhh!!! With all this stimuli, teachers have to battle to win the ever-decreasing attention spans of their students. And any teacher knows the statistics of how students learn: most of what they get their hands on (tactile learning), some of what they see (visual learning), and little of what they hear (aural learning). The good news is that new classroom display technology enables teaches to fire on all cylinders and teach fluidly while using all three methods of communication. So, how are teachers doing it? (more)
Video Blog | Healthcare Acoustics Nightmare
This is a fictional video we made to illustrate the many problems of acoustics, noise, and vibration in modern healthcare facilities. It shows why hospitals and health care facilities need acoustical engineers. © 2010, Acoustics By Design.
The Top 5 Acoustical Challenges of Church Video Venues
Church video venues are popping up everywhere. For many churches, they have become the go-to solution for solving the growth “problem”, which of course is a good problem to have. Church video venues are great for a number of reasons: they can offer an alternative worship music experience, they can keep a church unified by offering the same video sermon (live or recorded) to multiple venues, they can be a terrific option for landlocked churches, and much more. But what about the acoustics? What are some of the most pressing acoustical challenges of church video venues? (more)
Sound Healthcare 2010 – Upcoming Webinar
With only one stop left on our Midwest Tour, Sound Healthcare 2010 has already been presented to over 450 architects, engineers, designers, and healthcare professionals. But along the way something unexpected has been happening: people all across the country have been contacting us about attending the tour (which is a good problem to have). Some have gone as far as flying in to attend the seminars in person, but the majority have been asking about the possibility of a webinar presentation. Good news: if you are unable to make it to our last stop in Milwaukee on June 29th, we have a plan in the works to offer Sound Healthcare 2010 via webinar. But first, what are people saying about Sound Healthcare 2010? The following quotes are taken verbatim from our anonymous online survey:
The 2010 FGI Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities was published in January and adopted as building code by many states. How will you deal with the new noise, privacy, and acoustical requirements for healthcare facilities? Join us at SoundHealthcare 2010, a Health Care Acoustics Seminar, and find out what you must know about the new FGI Guidelines for HIPAA Compliance and LEED HC. There is no charge to attend this 90-minute seminar, but you must register in advance. The new guidelines are the culmination of over five years of collaborative work by researchers, architects, engineers, and acoustical consultants to solve the problems of speech privacy and excessive noise in hospitals. The guidelines are effective immediately for the design of all healthcare facilities. For perspective, consider the 2006 Guidelines which mandated single patient rooms in hospitals. As a result, single patient rooms are the absolute standard in healthcare design today. This was an overnight seismic shift in policy that affected all healthcare building projects. Well, the 2010 Guidelines are no different in their sweeping reforms, addressing a whole new dimension of healthcare design, namely: acoustics, noise, and HIPAA speech privacy laws. Register HERE to attend the seminar. (more)
Kachur to Speak at Audio Engineering Society
Every audio engineer must have a thorough understanding room acoustics to effectively perform their job. Mandy Kachur, Senior Consultant at Acoustics By Design, will discuss the fundamentals of acoustics for both large and small spaces at an upcoming meeting of the Audio Engineering Society. The discussion will focus on room modes, sound absorption, sound reflection, sound diffusion, sound isolation, and reverberation time. (more)
Acoustics By Design, an independent acoustical consulting and audio-visual design firm headquartered in downtown Grand Rapids, was recently selected by the Michigan Business & Professional Association as one of “West Michigan’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For.” 2010 marks the fourth consecutive year that Acoustics By Design (ABD) has received the award. (more)
Take The Poll. What is the Biggest Challenge Facing LEED?
Let’s face it, the LEED Green Building Rating System™ is facing some big challenges. The much heralded LEED for Healthcare program was supposed to be released in early 2009, but it is still sitting on the shelf unreleased. The LEED for Schools program has not been met with wide acceptance (since its release in 2007, only 26 schools have been certified under the program, as of this blog posting. See for yourself). And across the industry we are hearing of people who want to build projects to LEED specs, but without LEED certification. Whether or not that’s a good thing, is a topic of controversy. (more)
How Hotel Conference Rooms Can Make Money By Offering Audio-Visual Services In House
When hotel owners and managers consider the costs of upgrading their current hotel conference room audio-visual system, they often consider outsourcing these services to a live event production company – one that would bring in portable AV equipment and run it for the events. But more and more hotel managers are learning that offering the audio and video services in-house can be a lucrative cash cow. And they’re finding that the conference room guests prefer a well-designed AVL system as opposed to a portable hodge-podge system. So what is the best way to make upgrades to your hotel conference room audio-video system without losing your shirt in the process? (more)
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