NOISE CONTROL OF BUILDINGS

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

 The acoustical design issues for buildings involve the principal issues like site noise
considerations, including the control of noise transfer to a project’s neighbours,
particularly if they are residential, establishing noise standards for each use space,
including limitation of excessive ventilation noise, room acoustics considerations, sound
isolation between various use spaces, vibration control for mechanical equipment,
audio/visual system considerations.

 Building planners should develop objective acoustical standards for library projects as
an important component of the project program. The information contained in this article
about library acoustics is intended as a source for these standards.

 As the architectural and engineering design of the project evolves, the design should
be reviewed in light of the agreed upon acoustical programmatic requirements for the
building project. Since acoustics is typically not a code requirement, a city or state
building official cannot be expected to comment on the correctness of the acoustical
design in the contract documents. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the facility’s
planners, user groups, architects, engineers, and others involved with the project to
assure that the project acoustical needs are delineated and that there is follow-through,
particularly for verification testing after the ventilation system has been installed and
balanced.

CHAPTER 2

Sound and Noise

 Sound waves in air result from a physical disturbance of air molecules, such as when a
truck drives by a building or when guitar strings are plucked. Sound waves combine and
reach a listener via numerous direct and indirect pathways. The listener’s inner ear
contains organs that vibrate in response to these molecular disturbances, converting the
vibrations into changing electrical potentials that are sensed by the brain, allowing
hearing to occur.
 Acoustical analysis involves not only the sound source but also the listener and
everything in between on the path of the sound. The perception of the receiver can be
influenced by the treatment of either the path or the source. Some source sound is
desirable, for example a lecturer’s voice, and some source sound is undesirable, such
as the sound output from an idling truck outside a window. Undesirable sound is usually
called noise.

 Unless it is a pure tone, a sound wave is typically made up of vibrations at different

frequencies. Like the impact of a stone in a lake, ripples in the water are created that
are analogous to sound in the air. The frequency is basically the number of waves that
pass a single point in one second, moving at the speed of sound in air. One wave per
second is a frequency of one hertz (Hz). A frequency of 1,000 hertz is a kilohertz (kHz).

 Human speech contains frequencies between 200 Hz and 5 kHz, while the human ear
can actually hear sound generally between 25 Hz and 13 kHz, a wider range.
Frequencies below 20 Hz can be sensed as a vibration, though not audible to most
people.

Figure2.1  Frequency Range of Typical Sound Sources.

 Sound and noise are described using a metric called the decibel. The decibel scale is
logarithmic, similar to the Richter scale used to describe seismic events, and translates
a wide range of sound pressure levels that affect the human ear to a logarithmic scale.
The range of decibels most commonly encountered in acoustics extends from 0 to 140
dB. Figure 2.2 correlates the sound pressure levels of common sound sources to the
logarithmic decibel scale.
 Figure 2.2 Comparison of sound pressure and dB SPL for typical sound sources.

 When designing new library buildings or correcting deficiencies of existing library

spaces, materials and constructions are selected to control noise and other unwanted
sound. The human ear does not perceive all frequencies of sound to the same degree,
however, being less sensitive to lower frequency sound pressures than to middle or
higher frequency sound pressures. People tend subjectively to measure their perception
of the loudness of sounds based more on the SPL of these middle and higher frequency
sounds. Design criteria and sound measurement devices are therefore weighted toward
these upper frequencies in order to reflect the subjective perception of people in the
space.

 The term dBA, or A-weighted decibel, is often used to describe noise levels in spaces
because this type of decibel measurement averaged over the range of frequencies
within the range of hearing correlates well with people’s subjective perception of the
loudness of the noise. Sound level meters, which average the SPL across frequencies,
usually have a setting for A-weighting, so that measured noise levels correlate to the
human perception of the differences in noise level.

The NC Rating is an acoustic design criterion for the target level of background noise in
a room. This criterion is based on the fact that human hearing is less sensitive to lower
frequencies than to higher frequencies, so that a specific criterion for the SPL of
background noise in a space varies with the frequency of the noise spectrum. Figure 2.3
shows the Noise Criteria (NC) used in acoustic design. The loudest frequency region of
the background noise sets the NC-curve that applies to the space.
 Figure 2.3 Noise Criteria Curves.

To meet the criteria of NC-25, for example, the measured loudness of all frequencies
must fall at or below the NC-25 curve.

 A new building program should list the acoustic criteria for each space. These criteria
will usually include an NC Rating requirement, which depends on the appropriate level
of background noise to the tasks and activities in the space. Some typical NC Ratings
for library spaces are given in Figure 2.4.
 Figure 2.4. Typical recommended background noise levels in public spaces.

CHAPTER 3

ROOM ACOUSTICS

 Room acoustics pertains to the physical characteristics of a space for the hearing of
direct and reflected sound. In libraries, the principal issue for room acoustics is speech
intelligibility and control of background noise levels. Rooms with a high level of reflected
sound may have poor room acoustics depending on the use of the room since the
persistence of the sound creates unwanted background noise and interferes with the
ability to understand speech. Such rooms are said to have a high reverberation time,
the time required for the sound to be absorbed gradually and reduced below hearing
levels.

 Therefore, design principles for room acoustics in library spaces typically focus on the
locations and extent of sound absorbing material, to reduce reverberation and the
interference with speech, as well as the shape of rooms to achieve acceptable acoustic
characteristics in meeting and presentation rooms.

 Multi-purpose rooms require special room acoustics design since these spaces often
must accommodate speech and musical activities at different times. For speech
activities, the reverberation time should be low enough to allow syllables of parts of
speech to be readily understood. Longer reverberation time is preferred for musical
functions, since the musical sounds need to reverberate properly. A room having
reverberation time of more than 1.5 seconds may be acceptable for music listening but
would probably create interference with speech intelligibility. A room having a
reverberation time of less than 1 second would probably be judged acceptable for
speech intelligibility but musicians may complain about the room being too “dead”. The
different methods of noise and sound control in buildings are

3.1 Sound Absorption

 All materials have some sound-absorbing properties.  Sound energy that is not
absorbed must be reflected or transmitted.  A material’s sound-absorbing property is
typically described as a sound absorption coefficient at a particular frequency range. 
Sound absorbing materials used in buildings are rated using the Noise Reduction
Coefficient (NRC), which is basically a type of average of sound absorption coefficients
from 250 Hz to 2 kHz, the primary speech frequency range. The NRC theoretically can
range from perfectly absorptive (NRC = 1.0) to perfectly reflective (NRC = 0.0).

 Adding sound-absorbing materials to a space usually becomes an interior design issue

in the library. Many options are possible to provide sound absorption on walls and
ceilings, which are attractive and maintainable. Absorptive materials are often covered
with acoustically transparent surfaces such as fabric, perforated metal and spaced
wood slats. These surfaces allow the sound energy to pass through and be absorbed by
the material located behind. Figure 3.1 shows the example of a wood slat panel
treatment that effectively screens the acoustic blanket and creates a handsome ceiling
in a public area.

 Perforated metal panels, as shown in Figure 3.2, are commonly used to create a
certain finish appearance. For best results, the material should be as thin as possible,
with the smallest hole diameter and the greatest open area (the greatest number of
holes).

Some absorptive materials are attractively designed to be exposed to view, such as

normal suspended ceiling tiles. Generally, thicker porous materials provide better sound
absorption. 5/8-inch thick ceiling tiles have an NRC of 0.50 when mounted in a lay-in
grid ceiling. A 1-inch thick glass fiber ceiling tile can have an NRC rating of 0.80 or
greater. Figure 3.3 illustrates the appearance of a suspended acoustical tile ceiling.

Another approach to adding acoustic absorption to the space is to suspend acoustic

baffles as shown in Figure 3.4

 
Figure 3.1 Wood slat ceiling.
  

                                 Figure 3.2. Acoustical perforated-metal deck.

                            Figure 3.3 Lay-in acoustical ceiling tile.

                     Figure 3.4 Suspended acoustical baffles.

Open-cell foam panels are effective sound absorbers because they have increased
surface area due to the contoured surface of the foam. Figure 3.5 illustrates an
application near an open copy machine area. Figure 3.6 shows another type of fabric-
covered absorptive material.

                               Figure 3.5 Open-cell acoustical foam.

                        Figure 3.6 Quilted sound screen.

3.2 Sound Insulation

 Everyone has experienced unwanted sound intrusion – a television in the next room, a
loud neighbour walking on the floor above, or a jet flying over. Measures are often
required to reduce intrusive noise. One of the most essential techniques in acoustics is
reducing the transmission of sound through solid barriers in buildings. This form of
sound reduction is referred to as Sound Insulation.

3.2.1 Principles of Sound Insulation

 The reduction of sound energy from one building area to another by absorbing it or
reflecting it with an intervening solid panel of material is called sound transmission loss
(TL).  Typically, building materials attenuate more high frequency noise than low
frequency noise.  The higher the mass or weight of a wall, the more force is required to
make it vibrate. For this reason a massive wall has higher TL at all frequencies than a
lighter panel.

 Another way to increase the transmission loss of a panel or construction, such as a

wall, is by increasing its thickness and isolating one side of the construction from the
other. This is commonly done by using two panels separated by an air cavity, and is
known as a dual panel partition. Doubling the air space width increases the TL by about
5 dB. Usually, the dual panel approach is more effective and lower cost than increasing
wall mass.

 These sound reducing partitions are needed between spaces with different acoustic
requirements or spaces that require acoustic privacy. They are also necessary in some
cases as part of the exterior building envelope, if environmental noise at a site is a
particular concern. Walls, floors and ceilings enclosing spaces where unwanted noise is
generated, such as mechanical rooms, normally require a high standard of sound
reduction.
3.2.2 Sound Insulation Construction

 In the U.S., the standard way of describing sound isolation of constructions is a metric
called STC, or Sound Transmission Class. The STC rating of a wall, floor or ceiling is
determined by the components of the construction and how they are assembled.

3.2.3 Wall Construction

 A standard partition used to separate rooms in a building is typically a single stud wall
and one layer of gypsum board on each side, and it has an STC rating of 35. The
acoustic performance of the standard wall can be improved by using light gauge (25
gauge) metal studs instead of wood studs. There are some conditions in a library where
more sound isolation will be required, which can be accomplished by adding insulation
within the wall cavity, providing a second layer of gypsum board on each side of the
partition, or possibly using staggered stud construction. These program areas include
conference rooms and offices requiring confidential speech privacy, where STC ratings
in the range of STC 45-50 are recommended. To control noise transfer from rooms
having amplified sound systems such as meeting rooms into other library spaces, the
surrounding walls should have a minimum rating of STC 55-60. These wall
constructions are illustrated in Figure 3.7.

Wall Type Description STC Rating

 2X4 wood studs with 5/8” gypsum board on each 35
side.

2X4 metal studs (3-5/8”) with 5/8” gypsum board 39

on each side.

2X4 wood studs with 5/8” gypsum board on each 40

side. Add 2 inches of fiberglass batt insulation.

2X4 wood studs staggered on either edge of a 2X6 55

wood plate, with two layers of ½” gypsum board on
each side. Add 3-1/2 inches of fiberglass batt
insulation.

 It is important to note in general that the high STC rating of any wall construction can
be compromised in a number of ways. Care should be taken during actual construction
of these sound-rated partitions to ensure that common construction errors do not occur.
These compromising circumstances could be the following:

1.    Air or sound leaks through cracks. A small air gap can completely compromise the
effectiveness of the wall construction. Long cracks, such as those that normally occur at
the base and top of a wall are especially detrimental. For this reason, flexible acoustic
caulking should be used at the perimeter of a sound partition to seal all edge cracks.

2.    Air or sound leaks through normal openings in the wall. Electrical and data outlet boxes
or other penetrations of the wall for plumbing or sprinkler piping must also be carefully
sealed with flexible acoustic caulking. A common error is to place electrical outlet boxes
for two rooms back-to-back in the intervening sound partition. These boxes should be
located in different stud spaces to prevent sound transfer between the rooms.
3.    Structural connections between double stud partitions. The wood studs in each
partition frame of a double stud wall must not be structurally coupled to the other frame
in any way. No plumbing or electrical lines should be located in the open space of the
air gap between the two partition frames.

4.    It is important to seal both faces of a concrete masonry wall with paint or plaster in
order to control possible sound leaks.

 In meeting rooms and classroom spaces in libraries, movable partitions are often
considered as solutions for flexibility in space utilization. The sound insulation properties
of these walls are always an important issue to ensure that sound from a resulting
adjacent area is not distracting.

 There are two types of operable partitions; accordion and folding panel, and these are
illustrated in Figure 3.8. Most accordion walls are not tested for sound isolation, and are
intended for visual rather than acoustic privacy. However, some manufacturers have
made modifications to their standard products and can achieve sound isolation ratings
of 30 to 37 when installed in a building, which is still a marginal performance. (This
number represents the equivalent of an STC metric, but accounts also for field
conditions of the building and space, not just the laboratory-tested properties of the
partition itself.)

 Panel operable walls provide better sound insulation than accordion partitions because
they are heavier and their perimeter seals are more effective. However, even the best
models have only moderate sound isolation ratings (42 installed in the building is a
typical rating). Operable partitions can be electrically or manually operated. Electrically
operated doors move into position and back into storage automatically with the flip of a
switch, while manually operated doors may take twenty minutes or more to move into
place. Manually operated walls are more reliable for sound insulation than electrically
operated doors, because they have special hardware for compressing the perimeter
seals.
 Figure 3.8 Accordion-type operable wall (left) and Panel-type operable wall (right).

Note in the illustrations of Figure 3.8 that a plenum barrier is installed above the
operable wall, extending from the top of the wall to the underside of the structure above.
This plenum barrier is required in order that the sound insulation value of the wall is
maintained, and not short-circuited through sound travelling over the top of the partition.

3.2.4 Floor Construction

  Floor and ceiling assemblies perform two acoustical functions. Like walls, they provide
acoustical separation between adjacent spaces (airborne sound insulation), but they
also reduce the sound of footfalls and other impact sounds from an upper floor (impact
insulation).

 Impact insulation and airborne insulation can be upgraded by decoupling ceilings from
the structure and by altering floor finishes. A base assembly consisting of plywood
subfloor, joists and gypsum board can be upgraded from STC 37 to STC 58 by adding a
lightweight concrete topping slab, fiberglass batt insulation, resilient channels and a
second layer of gypsum board, as illustrated in Figure 3.9.

 The concrete topping slab reduces impact noise from footsteps heard in the space
below. Using a carpet and pad or a resilient floor underlayment improves the impact
insulation.
 Figure 3.9 Wood framed floor and ceiling construction having an STC rating of 58.

CHAPTER 4

Noise Control of Mechanical and Electrical Systems

When designing a building, it is important to control the noise and vibration of its
mechanical and electrical equipment. Without adequate consideration during design,
the very equipment that provides thermal comfort and electrical power can generate
annoying noise and vibration. Proven techniques are available for mitigating noise and
vibration from this equipment.  The recommended acoustical design sequence for a
building project is:

·         Select noise criteria for each space in the building.

·         Organize spaces to avoid adverse adjacencies of noisy equipment with quiet
spaces.

·         Provide adequate noise and vibration control for equipment.

4.1 SPACE PLANNING

Space planning can be the most cost-effective noise control technique.  Avoid locating
mechanical equipment rooms and electrical transformer rooms near spaces (either
vertically or horizontally) that require low background noise levels. If this location is
unavoidable, it will be necessary to introduce costly sound isolation methods such as a
floating floor as shown in  Figure 4.1 or heavy masonry walls, if proper sound insulation
is to be achieved. A floating floor consists of a second concrete slab installed on
neoprene pads and a layer of insulation.
 Figure 4.1 A Floating Floor construction.

4.2 NOISE CONTROL FOR MAIN BUILDING EQUIPMENT

 Large fans used as part of the air conditioning system in a building are sources of a
significant amount of unwanted noise. The quietest type of fan that will satisfy the
operating requirement should be selected whenever possible to reduce the need for
mitigation measures. The cost of mitigation may exceed the cost savings for a less
expensive but noisier fan.

 A down discharge fan on the rooftop should be located only near spaces that allow a
noise goal of NC 45 or higher, since noise is inevitably transmitted to the space below,
as shown in     Figure 4.2. For such a location, a side discharge fan with long lengths of
rectangular ducts on the roof should be used so that as much noise as possible is
dissipated before entering the space below.
 Figure 4.2 Noise paths for down discharge fan and side discharge fan with long
rectangular ducts, in a rooftop fan unit installation.

 Fan noise transmitted into a room is generally either duct borne noise or breakout noise
as shown in Figure 4.3.  Duct borne noise can be described as fan noise that is carried
within a duct and then transfers into a room through a register.  Breakout noise is fan
noise that passes through the walls of a duct and through the ceiling into a room.

Figure 4.3 Duct borne noise (from the register) and breakout noise (through the walls of
the duct).

 Absorption of fan-generated noise and mitigation of air turbulence are the strategies for
reducing unwanted mechanical noise in a building. To reduce fan-generated noise,
provide long duct lengths between fans and the nearest air register serving a room and
treat the duct internally with duct liner.  Fifteen feet of lined duct inserted after the fan
can reduce fan noise by 10 dB.

 Air turbulence can be minimized by using ducts with ample cross-sectional area and
keeping duct runs as straight as possible. Round ductwork allows very little breakout
noise in contrast to rectangular ductwork. Internal duct lining and external insulation do
not significantly reduce breakout noise.

 Noise between adjacent spaces served by common ducts is known as crosstalk. To

reduce crosstalk, main duct runs should be located above corridors, with individual
branches extending to each space. Return air transfer ducts to plenum spaces above
ceilings should have duct liner installed, and there should be an elbow in the duct as
shown in Figure 4.4.

Figure 4.4 Internally lined return air transfer duct above ceiling (with one elbow) to
control crosstalk.

 Silencers are also called sound attenuators, mufflers, or sound traps. As air flows
through silencers, fan noise is reduced.  They are usually placed between sections of
ducts but can also be located inside an air-handling unit or adjacent to a louver.

 Duct lagging is usually specified as part of a design or as a retrofit to solve an existing

breakout noise problem.  As shown in Figure 4.5, duct lagging may include enclosing
the duct in gypsum board or insulation wrapped in sheet lead.

Figure 4.5 Duct lagging using a gypsum board enclosure (left) or lead-wrapped around
insulation (right).
 Variable speed drives adjust the fan speed to match the ventilation needs of a room.
When the fan slows down, the noise level generally decreases. Mechanical variable
speed drives can be noisy when speeds are being changed. Electrical variable speed
drives and their cabinets are often noisy. The cabinets should be vibration isolated and
never attached to a partition adjacent to an acoustically sensitive room.

 A chiller is the part of the HVAC system that cools the refrigerant, which in turn cools
the air. Most of the noise and vibration is generated by the chiller compressors. The
tonal noise produced can be intrusive. If chillers are installed adjacent to acoustically
sensitive spaces, mitigating measures such as floating floors and double-stud or
masonry wall constructions will be necessary.