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.
How to Gradually Reduce Employee Noise Exposure
Industrial plants are most often loud and dynamic work environments. Noise fields are complex with varying levels of noise produced by many different pieces of equipment, and employees spend varying amounts of time near the different noise sources. Sound levels are even impacted by the building, with taller spaces generally quieter than single story spaces, sound absorbing room finishes sucking up some of the noise, and partitions blocking sound. Measuring worker noise exposure is simple. (more)
The Leaky Bucket | How Sound Escapes
Blocking sound is often analogized to plugging the holes in a leaky bucket. If you plug up all the bucket holes except one, the bucket is still going to drain. In acoustics, an outstanding partition design will not adequately block sound if holes and weak spots exist where sound can find its way through. (more)
Why Courts Need an Expert Witness in Acoustics
Our company president, Kenric Van Wyk, was recently featured in a Wood TV 8 interview as an expert on noise levels. The local NBC affiliate was covering a story on a teenager who had been killed by a train after walking down the tracks while listing to an MP3 player through ear buds. We brought one of our noise meters down to the tracks and made measurements while a train went by, and the story made the evening news. (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)
Perception Vs. Reality: What Our Ears Hear
It seems like everyone is talking about decibels these days: “5 dB of this” and “3 dB of that.” As acoustical consultants, we hear people using these metrics and often wonder to ourselves, “Do they really know what a decibel is?” Occasionally, someone is brave enough to ask the more important question, “Just how much is a decibel?” The answer to that question is, of course: well, it depends. Are we talking about physical sound levels or perceived sound levels? There is a big difference! (more)
Recently we were called in to consult on some highway noise that was affecting a residential community. The state had added a new exit ramp that diverged right through the back property lines of several of the residences. While we talked with one of the home owners, he asked about the acoustical effects of planting more trees and foliage between his house and the new exit ramp. As Acoustical Consultants, this is something we hear all the time: the idea that trees and plants can effectively mitigate loud noise. Hopefully, this blog will help put to rest some of the myths about acoustical attributes of trees: where they fail and where they succeed. (more)
Beyond the Auditorium: Acoustics and LEED For Schools
When most people hear about the new Acoustic Standards in the LEED for Schools Rating System, their eyes start to glaze over like day-old Crispy Creams. With over thirty pages of detailed acoustical design criteria, the ANSI Standards are a force to be reckoned with. Today we will take a few moments to highlight the basic principles of acoustical design that will “LEED” to enhanced learning environments, happy school board officials, and of course…impressive LEED scores. (more)
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