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Building and Room Acoustics

 

Building acoustics measurements focus on three key areas: sound insulation, indoor sound quality, and background noise. These factors greatly affect a building's comfort, privacy, and functionality. Here are the main measurement items and their importance:

 

Sound Insulation

Airborne Sound Insulation

    • Indicator: Rw (single value assessment), DnT,w (measured value), STC (American Standard)

    • Purpose: To evaluate the ability of building components such as walls, floors, doors and windows to insulate airborne sound such as speech and music.

    • Example: The ability of a home's walls to block the sound of neighbors' conversations.

Impact Sound Insulation

    • Indicator: Ln,w, IIC (Impact Insulation Class)

    • Purpose: To evaluate the sound insulation capability of floor slabs against impact sound of walking, falling objects, etc.

    • Example: The sound of walking or children running upstairs is transmitted downstairs.

Vertical sound insulation of floor slabs

    • Usually a combination of airborne and percussive sounds, especially for upper and lower floor occupants.

 

Room Acoustics

RT60-2

Reverberation Time (RT60)

    • Indicator: RT60 (time required for sound to decay by 60 dB)

    • Purpose: Reflects the degree of echo in a space. Too long a time will result in unclear speech, while too short a time will make the music unnatural.

    • Example: The ideal RT60 time for a conference room and a concert hall are different.

RT60-1


Early Decay Time (EDT)

    • Evaluates the pre-decay condition of sound, which is closer to the subjective perception.

 

Speech Transmission Index (STI)

    • Purpose: To evaluate speech intelligibility in space

    • Examples: Classrooms, conference rooms, station broadcasts, etc. where high speech intelligibility is required.

Clarity Indicators (C50, C80)

    • C50 for speech; C80 for music, indicates the ratio of direct sound to early reflections.

 

Background Noise Measurement

Background Noise Level

    • Indicator: dB(A)

    • Purpose: To assess the interference of equipment (e.g. air-conditioning) and external traffic noise on the quiet environment.

    • Example: Libraries, recording studios require very low background noise.

Noise level curves (NC, NR, RC)

    • Usage: For designing quiet levels, e.g. office NC-40, conference room NC-30.

 

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