Naturally Ventilated Buildings and Loud Noisy Acoustics
The LEED® green building certification program gives out points for naturally ventilating buildings, and it also gives out points for acoustics – especially for low levels of background noise levels. As the industry is finding out, naturally ventilated buildings create more opportunities for buildings to be penetrated by exterior noises, thus creating unintended loud background noise levels. I was interviewed by Buildings Magazine for their article, Fresh Air Creates Fresh Acoustical Concerns. Read the whole article here… http://www.buildings.com/ArticleDetails/tabid/3321/ArticleID/10021/Default.aspx
Several weeks ago, a client invited me to a rehearsal in their highly reverberant space that ABD was hired to test and correct. I declined, as I already had plans to attend a play that evening at a different facility, and joked that during the performance I’d also be listening to sirens from the main street outside the theater. Nearly every time we attend a performance in this space, we hear sirens going by the building. Sure enough, on cue in Act II, “errrrrreeeeeerrrrrhhh” slices into the hall. My husband and I shake our heads. This is why sound isolation of performance spaces from outside noise intrusion is so important. (more)
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)
Are Construction Administration Services Really That Important?
For many of our larger projects, we offer Acoustical Consulting Construction Administration Services as an additional option. Unfortunately, not all clients invest money on this service. Our frustration extends well beyond the revenue side of the project (the CA services are usually a very reasonable addition to the project budget, relative to Design Services). Sometimes our clients opt out of CA services, ending our involvement with the project after a review of the construction drawings and the specifications. We find that many clients view the additional services as non-essential. After all, “all the information is in the drawings and the specifications.” I would completely agree with the sentiment in an ideal world, but experience has shown this world is rarely, if ever, ideal. There are some clients, however, that have welcomed this form of service from our company, and I’d like to share one of their successes. (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. How will you deal with the new noise, privacy, and acoustical requirements for healthcare facilities? Join us at SoundHealthcare 2010, a Health Care Acoustics Training Seminar, and find out what you must know about the new FGI Guidelines for HIPAA Compliance and LEED HC. This is a brand new chapter in the 2010 FGI Guidelines, which 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)
Noise Isolation for Hospital Mechanical Rooms
Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities have requirements for large volumes of ventilation and strict control of airflow, and the greater the airflow, the greater the potential for noise. Building mechanical services equipment, fans, pumps, cooling, and heating equipment are all sources of high noise levels. When Acoustics By Design works on a new hospital, we typically expend half of our effort on attenuating building mechanical systems noise. In order to avoid the need for extensive noise and vibration isolating constructions, project designers and engineers should pay careful attention to mechanical room sizes and locations during schematic design. Here are some issues to address early on… (more)
New FGI Guidelines Turn Down the Volume on Health Care Acoustics
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 Training Seminar, and find out what you must know about the new FGI Guidelines for HIPAA Compliance and LEED HC. 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)
Tunnel Vision | Highway Traffic Noise Wall Barriers
On a recent trip to Chicago, my wife and I were thankful for all the new traffic lanes recently completed. I can remember when the trip back home to my folks took an extra couple of hours if I got stuck in all the traffic. But thankfully, with the new highway renovations, we’ve actually had some easy trips with no more traffic backups. Of course, our easy traveling must come at a cost. High density population areas are often encroached upon by the infrastructure needed to support them. In our case, the highways got a lot bigger with more lanes but that meant that they were even closer to the houses and neighborhoods that we drove through. (more)
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)
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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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)
The Problem with Pulpers | Noise and Vibration Control
We were recently called in to assist in addressing a noise issue that was the result of a university’s desire to be more “green”. In this case, we were asked to assess the noise produced in the dish wash room of a university student union. This blog is the second of a two-part post about student union acoustics, and you may want to read the first blog on College Campuses and Student Union Acoustics before continuing. (more)
My Scarlet Letter | Distractions in the Classroom
At Acoustics By Design we talk a lot about standards. Sometimes, the standards are hidden behind terms like design goals, baseline design, or even ordinances and specifications… But they are all standards. The reality is almost all aspects of our lives are governed by standards; regardless of how well they work or how well we adhere to them, we still use them in decision making. (more)
College Campuses and Student Union Acoustics
At Acoustics By Design, we regularly consult on the design of College and University buildings including classroom buildings, dormitories, athletic facilities, performing arts buildings, libraries, research buildings, and student centers. These numerous building types result in our needing to address a myriad of acoustic and vibration issues. Many student centers and student unions face a similar problem: loud noise from the commercial kitchens inhibit the relaxed social environment for the students. Universities want their student unions to be a center for campus life and activity, and if the student center is too loud to provide the desired environment, students will inevitably congregate elsewhere. (more)
Rooftop Roulette | Noise and Vibration Isolation for Air Handlers and Mechanical Units
Over the years as an acoustical consultant I’ve seen a lot of architectural firms locate rooftop air handling units over or near acoustically sensitive spaces; then they put up resistance to doing the necessary extensive noise controls that are needed for such a situation. The protest usually includes “but we’ve never had to do that in the past…” I call this rooftop roulette, because while not incorporating noise control design may have worked in the past, it does not guarantee future success. (more)
Closed Office Acoustics and Privacy Concerns
We regularly receive phone calls regarding closed office privacy concerns. The acoustical challenges of an open office environment are manifold, but crosstalk between closed office spaces can be just as distracting. Typically, when these calls come in, we have a standard list of questions that we ask the potential clients about their current environment to try to get an understanding of why they feel they have no privacy between closed offices. (more)
It’s time for another semester, and I tell my architecture students that if there’s one thing they learn in my acoustics class, it’s that porous absorbers do not block sound. A porous sound absorber, by definition, has many tiny interconnected voids that sound travels through. Fiberglass and open cell foam are examples. The sound wave loses its energy through friction between the air particles and the fibers/void walls of the material it is passing through. (more)
Doggy Daycare Noise Control – Acoustic Roadblocks
Are you planning to open a veterinary hospital? A doggy daycare? A kennel? A private dog park? If so, then make sure that you consider the noise issues ahead of time (i.e., the barking)! Although these types of projects only account for a small portion of our work at Acoustics By Design, we end up assisting with noise control for at least a couple of these animal facilities every year. And when it comes to building the perfect doggy daycare or kennel, there is always a common list of acoustic roadblocks. (more)
LEED for Healthcare to be Adopted in 2009
The LEED Green Building Rating SystemTM is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. LEED was created by the U.S. Green Building Council to define “green building” through a common standard, and to promote integrated, whole-building design practices. There are several categories of LEED building certification programs including: LEED for New Construction, LEED for Existing Buildings, LEED for Schools, and LEED for Retail, just to name a few. And as of last week, the U.S.G.B.C. announced plans to adopt a new LEED category in 2009: Healthcare. (more)
Noise Isolation for Mixed-Use Developments
In the world of architecture, we frequently hear the term “mixed-use development,” and our firm is increasingly called upon to provide mixed-use development acoustical consulting. The term “mixed-use” generally refers to a development that incorporates residential and commercial space in a close-knit fashion. Mixed-use developments have been constructed for centuries, often taking the form of residential space above retail space – such as the shopkeeper living above the shop. As industrialization increased, mixed-use fell out of favor, and segregated land-use became popular. But late in the past century, mixed-use developments resurfaced, often with the intent of revitalizing urban areas and creating walk-able communities – as opposed to communities where a person must drive a car or take some form of public transportation to perform their daily routine. (more)
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