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)
Mechanical Background Sound in Exam Rooms
January 2010 held a highly anticipated milestone for acoustical consultants. The definitive guide called 2010 FGI/ASHE Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities has a greatly expanded acoustics section in this year’s edition. The section went from a solitary partition transmission loss table in prior issues to an eighty page guideline that comprehensively covers exterior noise, acoustical finishes, background noise, sound isolation, vibration, sound masking systems, audio systems and alarms. As a result, acoustical consultants are hoping that architects and engineers will appreciate the breadth and importance of acoustics and consequently incorporate acoustical design early in a project when it is most cost effective. (more)
Anechoic Chambers – What They’re All About
So what in the world are anechoic chambers? In short, they are the consultant’s and manufacturer’s best friend when it comes to acoustics. Anechoic chambers are primarily used for a variety of acoustical measurements that determine just how much noise a product is making. These chambers are most notable for their strange appearance… their foam filled walls, ceilings, and sometimes floors of spikes look a bit like a Nerf torture chamber; if you filled them with plastic balls they’d be a hit attraction at your local Chuck E Cheese. But alas the soft spikes are not meant for harm or play but rather to absorb as much sound as possible, so that you can measure the true sound emitted or reflected off of whatever noise source you are interested in. (more)
Acoustics from the Ancient Amphitheatre to the Modern Arena
In the days of the ancient Romans, crowds would gather by the thousands in the amphitheater to see a wide range of events: public ceremonies honoring brave soldiers, performances of dramatic presentations, or the gruesome games of the gladiators. Although the events were a visual extravaganza, the amphitheater and coliseum were also designed acoustically to allow the entire audience to hear. Fast forward two thousand years, and we still gather in large groups to see college graduations, rock concerts, sporting events, and more. Two of the primary senses that are titillating to the large masses still remain the same: visual and aural stimulation. (more)
New FGI Guidelines Turn Down the Volume on Health Care Acoustics
The 2010 FGI (Facility Guidelines Institute) Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities was published this month and adopted as building code by most states. 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. (more)
Wind Turbine Noise | Residential Vs. Commercial
Who Can See the Wind?
(by Christina Georgina Rossetti)
Who can see the wind? Neither you nor I
But when the leaves are trembling
The wind is passing by!
Who can see the wind? Neither I nor you
But when the trees are bending low
The wind is passing through!
As this children’s poem points out, the wind’s affect on the surrounding environment is a beautiful thing. But if you live near one of the many “wind farms” popping up all over the country, you may disagree. If that’s you, then “seeing the wind” means 400 foot tall wind turbines interrupting your landscape, and “hearing the wind” may mean loud “whirring” and “whoosh” sounds keeping you awake at night. (more)
Healthcare Study Links Noise to Patient Satisfaction
For years, the healthcare industry has used patient satisfaction surveys to gauge hospital performance and to identify ways for improving the healing environment. And the industry’s standard surveyor, Press Ganey Satisfaction Surveys, has always shown the number one patient complaint to be “noise in or around the room.” As acoustical consultants, we know that noise plays an important role in patient and staff satisfaction, but measuring just how much of an affect has always been difficult. Until now. (more)
Acoustics By Design Receives “Best of” Award for Acoustical Engineering
Acoustics By Design has been selected for a 2009 “Best of” Award in the Acoustical Engineering category by the U.S. Commerce Association (USCA). The “Best of Local Business” Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USCA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community. (more)
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Hotel Room Noise Isolation = A Good Night’s Rest
Due to the nature of our work and the locations of our clients, we are always traveling. One thing that I’ve noticed in my many years at ABD is that there is a vast difference in the quality of the rooms at any given hotel. When I check in, I have a few requests that I announce long before the desk clerk imprints my key. First, I always ask for a room on the opposite side of the hotel from the highway and second I ask for a room at the end of the hallway. So why are these things important to me? Acoustics, of course! (more)
Planning for Acoustical Separation of MRI Rooms in Hospitals
In my last post, I discussed the acoustical design of hospital patient rooms, minimizing disturbance from noise produced by activity in the corridor, by phone calls and discussions at the nurses’ stations, and by noise from nearby patient rooms. But that’s only the beginning. There are additional sources of noise in hospitals and there are more noise sensitive spaces. The truth is, healthcare facilities will only be as strong as their weakest link in the design. So what are some of the loudest noise sources and most noise sensitive rooms? (more)
Acoustics for Video Venues & Portable Churches
From mega-churches to small town congregations, the video-venue concept is becoming a staple of church growth. For those not “in the know”, a “video-venue” is a church meeting where parts of the service (typically the sermon or message) are piped in via video signal and projected on a large screen, while other parts of the service (like the music or announcements) are done live. Since the sermon is filmed in the “main sanctuary”, it can be broadcast to different rooms within the same church building (onsite video-venues) or to campuses across town, out of state, and beyond (offsite video-venues). As a devoted church member and as an acoustical consultant, I have experienced many different types of video venues firsthand, and I have found a common thread of acoustical “challenges” they typically face. If you are planning a video-venue or portable church ministry, here are some important items to consider before selecting your new space… (more)
Your Conversation with your Doctor may not be as Private as you Think
While I was at the doctor’s office the other day, I was allowed to listen to a conversation between a doctor and another patient. Was I in the room with them? I didn’t have to be. The sound isolation between exam rooms was so poor that I could hear virtually everything that was said. (more)
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Collaboration – The New Buzzword in University Acoustics
The education methods used in today’s universities are rapidly changing, and as the methods change, so does the architecture. The big buzz right now is creating “collaborative spaces for learning“. Traditional push down models of teacher-to-student lectures are being supplemented by a new focus on interactivity and, there’s that buzz word again, collaboration. So what are the acoustical challenges inherent in the new system? (more)
An Opportunity Lost? GM’s Saturn Division – Success Squandered or Just Delayed?
Early in my career, I was a young acoustics engineer working at the General Motors “Noise and Vibration Laboratory” (NVL) where our function was to provide automotive noise and vibration control solutions to the various vehicle development teams. At one point, my job was to lead the design and development of the noise control (”Sound Package”) solutions for the original Saturn vehicle line. So when I saw the recent news about Roger Penske & Penske Automotive Group acquiring the Saturn brand from General Motors, I found myself thinking back on the glory days of Saturn: what made them so unique, and what solutions will bring them through the current economic recession? (more)
Gymnasium Acoustics | The Multi-Use Problem
Gymnasiums often end up being multi-use spaces. Of course, they are used for competitive sporting events, for team practice, recreation, and for Phys Ed classes. But they are also used for school addresses, commencement ceremonies, band and choir concerts, and more. Those with stages are used for musicals, plays, and speaking events. I have been asked to help mitigate acoustical problems more often in gymnasiums than in any other type of school space; possibly more often than in any other type of space, period. And there are almost always two complaints that I hear… (more)
Sick of Loud and Noisy Patient Rooms? We Are Too.
You don’t have to spend a lot of time in hospitals to find out that patients are sick of the noise in their rooms. Press Ganey surveys, current literature on the subject, and the unsolicited comments we receive while measuring sound levels in hospitals all confirm that patients are most often displeased with the noise experienced in hospital patient rooms. Minimizing noise disturbance to patient rooms is an important aspect of acoustical design for healthcare facilities. But before we can reduce the noise levels, we need to know the sources of noise and understand the factors that influence its transmission. (more)
Noise Pollution from Wind Energy – Why It’s a Problem!
With today’s heightened awareness about energy and our dependence on foreign oil, we are being lured with a promise of bountiful, cheap electricity if we simply harvest the energy from the wind. As is true with everything in life, “there is no such thing as a free lunch”. Communities across the country are learning from past mistakes (the hard way) that one of the greatest struggles with wind turbine development is in community noise disturbances – or noise pollution. So, what can be done about it? (more)
Psychoacoustics: Transient Noise Grabs Attention
Have you ever noticed how some sounds catch your attention and others do not? For example, you are driving down the road thinking of your plans for the day and all of a sudden you hear a squeak in the dashboard. It draws your attention immediately, while the air conditioning fan likely does not. The squeak is intermittent (and likely tonal, but that’s a topic for another blog) and therefore stands out over the more constant sound of the fan. This reaction is similar to vision, where our attention is drawn by moving objects much more so than stationary ones. (more)
The Top Three Acoustical Solutions for Conference Rooms
Conference room acoustics are often overlooked in the design process, but they can quickly become a problem (and a high priority) once the room is put into use. Architects are great at designing aesthetically pleasing boardrooms and conference rooms, and when their clients see the renderings, acoustics is normally the furthest thing from their mind. Thus, the acoustical design of the boardroom goes unaddressed. But when the client moves in and has trouble holding meetings, acoustics comes to the forefront. (more)
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