FUNDAMENTALS OF ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS Outdoor-indoor transmission class/ OITC sound

rating
Architectural acoustics
- The OITC sound rating provides a single
- is the study of sound in homes and other
number rating for roofs, facades and
buildings and the design of those structures for
facade elements that are subjected to
optimal acoustic performance, including
transportation noises.
control of sound transmission throughout the
building, maintaining conditions for good Reverberation
speech intelligibility, and maintaining sound
- The sound that reflects around inside a
isolation for speech privacy.
room even after the source has become
Environmental Noise includes: silent until it (the sound) eventually loses
energy.
◼ Transportation noise (road traffic,
railway, aircraft) Reverberation time
◼ Leisure noise (nightclubs, restaurants,
- The time it takes for a sound to decay
classes, live sporting events, live music)
60dB after the source has become silent.
Definition of Terms
Sound isolation / sound blocking
Acoustic attenuation/ sound attenuation
- the ability to block sound transmission
- When the intensity of a sound diminishes from one room or area to another
as it passes through a medium. (between the source and the receiver)
by separating, or decoupling, assembly
Day-night average sound level (DNL)
materials to stop the transfer of sound
- This is the sound level in a space energy.
averaged over 24 hours, but with 10dB
Sound masking
added to all sound between 10 pm and
7 am before the average is done. - The measure of a sound’s pressure
relative to the pressure around it; in its
HVAC background noise
simplest form, quiet sounds produce
- The noise generated by a building’s waves with relatively small pressures.
heating, ventilation and air conditioning
Sound transmission class/ STC rating
(HVAC) equipment.
- One of the standard metrics that
Impact sounds (impact isolation class - IIC)
quantifies an assembly's ability to
- The airborne sound or noise arising from decrease airborne sound transfer
the impact of an object making direct between rooms.
contact with a surface.
Soundproofing
Noise level reduction (NLR)
- a general term used to describe
- The amount of attenuation provided by reducing sound pressure between a
construction to reduce the noise level on source and the receiver.
the other side than the source.
Speech intelligibility
Noise pollution
- is the ability to hear and understand
- Unwanted sounds that can have a conversation.
negative impact on health and the
Speech privacy
quality of an environment.
- the inability to understand someone
NRC and NRC rating
else’s speech – the opposite of speech
- is a rating of how much sound an intelligibility.
acoustic surface or material can absorb.
SOUND THEORY 2. Loudness or intensity - flow of wave energy
crossing per unit time through unit area. Sound
◼ Sound is a vibration in an elastic medium
intensities are measured in decibels (dB).
such as air, water, building materials and
earth. 3. Quality or timbre - It is the quality of musical
◼ Sound energy progresses in atmospheric note. It is one of the important characters of the
pressure and travel a great distance. sound that allows the ear to differentiate
◼ Sound is the physical phenomenon that between tones produced by different
encourages the sense of hearing. instruments when the sound waves are identical
◼ It is generated by vibrated bodies in the in aptitude and frequency
form of waves of compression and
Amplitude or Volume
rarefaction in the air.
characteristic of sound waves that humans
Cycle - A full circuit by a displaced particle
perceive as volume. The amplitude
Period - The time required for one complete corresponds to the distance that air molecules
cycle move back and forth as a sound wave passes
through them.
Frequency of vibration - the number of
complete cycles per second Measurement of sound

Wavelength of Sound sound can measure in terms of pressure level or

decibel (dB) and it is used as convent unit to
It is the distance a sound wave traveling during
measure the magnitude of sound.
one cycle of vibration or wavelength is the
distance between adjacent regions where ◼ Sound measurement can help us to
identical conditions of particle displacement improving of building acoustics
occur. ◼ Sound measurement can indicate when
sound may cause hearing damage
Velocity of the sound – the speed at which the
◼ It permits evaluation of the hearing
sound travels. Depends on the elasticity and
sensitivity of individuals
density of the medium.
◼ It permits the improvement of quality of
Propagation of Sound our daily lives

When sound is generated in a place, it can Waves

move or spread in all direction by air
Waves transfer energy from one place to
Diffraction of Sound another.

The bending of sound waves due to obstacles. Vacuums - waves can transfer energy through
causes decreasing of frequency, loudness, solids, liquids, gases and empty spaces.
pitch ate.
Longitudinal wave
Hearing Sensitivity
is where the particles vibrate parallel to the
The ability of understanding or listening of direction in which the wave of energy is
sound. depends up on person eardrum, travelling.
intensity of sound, type of sound tone, distance
Compressions - occurs when the wave
between the source and the listener, climatic
compresses particles of the medium it travels in.
conditions.
Rarefactions - is a region where the medium
Physical Character of Sound:
spreads out.
1. Frequency or Pitch - number of cycle or
pressure vibrations produced by a body in unit
of time
Example of Longitudinal wave WAVELENGTH

1.) Sound wave - is the energy something The wavelength, is the distance between two
releases when it vibrates. This energy successive pressure maxima or between
travels through the air. successive pressure minima in a plane wave.
◼ Speaker
Power -energy per unit time (units of Watts) e/t
◼ Drum
2.) P waves - the primary waves produced by Pressure - force per unit area f/a
earthquakes
Intensity - power per unit area. p/a
Transverse Waves

Move with oscillations that are perpendicular to

the direction of the wave. The particles are SOUND SOURCES
displaced perpendicular to the direction the COMMON ELEMENTS OF ANY ACOUSTICAL
wave travels. SITUATION:
In transverse waves, the vibrations are at right ● Sound source – No need to consider the path
angles to the direction of wave travel. or recipients' locations if the source can be
Examples of transverse waves include: controlled

• ripples on the surface of water ● Sound transmission path – If sound can be

controlled between the source and listeners,
• vibrations in a guitar string then the listeners' locations are irrelevant.
• a Mexican wave in a sports stadium ● Receiver of the sound – Sound reception can
be influenced, which is not usually an
• electromagnetic waves – (e.g, light waves,
architectural concern.
microwaves, radio waves)
SOURCES:
• seismic S-waves
Two sources of sound
FREQUENCY OF SOUND
1.) Natural sound produced by nature.
The series of compressions and rarefactions
produced by the movement of the object 2.) Artificial sounds are sounds created by
constitute a sound wave, the frequency of human activity.
which is determined by the rate of oscillation of
the object. Types of Sources:

Frequency, f - The number of cycles per second. ◼ Point Sources

o Simplest source - sound is believed
PARTICLE VELOCITY to be generated at an ideal
location in space
The differentiation of the displacement of the
o An omnidirectional point source
particle with respect to time yields the particle
radiates sound in all directions
velocity.
equally
Ray leigh's disc - property of a sound wave can ◼ Line Sources
be measured directly using a classical o A sound-resonating line in space
technique developed by Lord Rayleigh ◼ Surface Sources
o A surface source is a line source
SPEED OF SOUND
extended in two dimensions.
The speed of propagation or speed of sound is o sound is radiated from a whole
dependent on the mass and elasticity of the surface
medium.
RECEIVERS DIFFERENCE OF REVERBERATION AND ECHO

Like sources, an omnidirectional receiver picks Reverberation is the persistence of sound after
up sound equally from all directions. the sound source has been stopped. It results
from a large number of reflected waves which
● Electroacoustic devices that convert sound
can be perceived by the brain as a continuous
waves into electrical signals and numerical
sound. On the other hand, an echo occurs
sequences for further processing.
when a pulse of sound can be heard twice.
● Receivers are any living things with a hearing
DIRECTIVITY - measures a sound source's
system.
directional quality
● Humans are binaural receivers, which means
DIRECTIONAL SOUND - is the idea of employing
both the left and right ear, as well as the head
various gadgets to create sound fields that
shape, should be considered.
spread less than most (small) standard
REFLECTION OF SOUND ON A SURFACE loudspeakers.

A surface that is rigid, flat and smooth usually DIRECTIONALITY OF SOUND SOURCES
reflects sound.
A sound source's directionality, or the way it
GEOMETRY OF REFLECTED SOUND distributes sound in a space devoid of reflecting
surfaces, is an important aspect to consider.
One characteristic of sound is that, like light, it
can bend around an obstruction known as PROPERTIES OF SOUND
“diffraction of sound”. Low frequency sounds
FREQUENCY (PITCH)
are diffracted more easily than high frequency
sounds - Is the sound quality that distinguishes high
sounds from low sounds
The hearer of the sound actually hears two
types of sounds: Wavelength - it is the distance between
consecutive corresponding points of the same
1. direct or original sound - from the source and
phase on the wave.
directly delivered to the hearer
Frequency - is the number of completed wave
2. reflected sound - from all directions of the
cycles per second.
room for a sound to be heard by a listener
comfortably Molecular absorption - a sound maybe covered
up or absorbed by another sound. This
VELOCITY OF PROPAGATION
phenomenon is called masking of sound and
Sound travels at different velocities, depending this is very useful in acoustics.
upon the medium.
Soporific Effect - the effect brought about by a
Sound travels much faster in liquids and solids low steady sound
than it does on air
DURATION (TEMPO/RHYTHM)
SPEED OF SOUND
- the quality of sound that refers to a sound
As sound travels much slower than the speed of length. It distinguishes long sounds from short
light, the resulting defects in many rooms are sounds
echoes and reverberations.
AMPLITUDE (LOUDNESS)
Echo - when the reflected sound, which
Amplitude is the maximum distance the
reaches an observer, is delayed more than
particles in a medium move from their rest
about 0.058 seconds relative to the direct
positions as the wave passes through the
sounds
medium.
Reverberation - these usually will be a rather
long succession of these reflections before the
sound dies away to inaudibility
INTENSITY - Is the amount of energy that passes 3.) Fluency - this is the rhythm of our speech.
through a square meter of space in one We sometimes repeat sounds or pause
second. while talking.

DECIBEL LEVELS Phonemes

The term bel is derived from the name of individual and distinctive sounds that to an
Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the extent vary from language to language, that is,
telephone. The unit decibel is used because a certain ones exist in one language not in
one-decibel difference in loudness between another
two sounds is the smallest difference detectable
MUSIC
by human hearing.
is much broader and complex than speech in
TIMBRE
frequency and dynamic range. It has no direct
Timbre refers to the tone color, or “feel” of the parallel to intelligibility.
sound. Sounds with various timbres produce
"Reception" of music - is a combination of
different wave shapes, which affect our
physiological and psychological phenomena.
interpretation of the sound.
MUSIC THERAPY
ENVELOPE
Music makes a powerful impact on the senses.
The timbre of a sound is also greatly affected by
Often touching feelings too deep or too difficult
the following aspects of its envelope: attack
to express in words.
time and characteristics, decay, sustain,
release (ADSR envelope) and transients. 1. The response approach
NOISE, MUSIC, AND SPEECH - focuses on the therapeutic power of music
heard from an external source and the body
SPEECH AND MUSIC
and mind’s reaction to such music.
THREE CLASSIFICATIONS OF SOUNDS IN A
2. The expression approach
BUILDING
- identifies music’s power to come not only form
1. Noise – unwanted sound
its reception but also from its creation.
2. Music – generally not always made up of
NOISE ANNOYANCE
ordered sound
Noise, defined as ‘unwanted sound’ has
3. Speech – consists of both ordered and
gradually become increasingly acknowledged
disordered sound
as an environmental stressor and as a nuisance.
Sound can also be divided into two categories:
Annoyance - is the most prevalent community
1. Ordered response in a population exposed to
environmental noise.
2. Disordered
Noise annoyance(nuisance) - is excessive noise
Harmonics - are overtones that have this simple
or disturbance that may have a negative effect
relationship of frequencies.
on health or the quality of life.
Speech - is how we say sounds and words.
The government defines three levels of noise:
1.) Articulation - how we make speech
● No observed effect level – the level of noise
sounds using the mouth, lips, and tongue.
exposure where there is no effect on health or
2.) Voice - how we use our vocal folds and
the quality of life.
breath to make sounds. Our voice can
be loud or soft or high- or low-pitched. ● Lowest observed effect level – adverse effects
We can hurt our voice by talking too on health and the quality of life can be
much, yelling, or coughing a lot. detected.
● Significant observed adverse effect level – These effects in turn can lead to:
there can be significant effects on health and
● Tension or anxiety.
quality of life.
● Decreased performance.
The degree of disturbance caused by noise
depends on properties such as: ● Reduced productivity.
● Volume. ● Eardrum damage or hearing difficulties.
● Duration. ● Increased blood pressure or stress levels.
● Repetition. ● Psychological damage.
● Frequency. High and low pitches tend to Negative Effects of Noise
be more disturbing than middle frequencies.
two basic approaches to the negative effects
● ‘Normal’ background noise levels. of noise:
● Information content. For example, speech 1. psychological practical one
is more likely to be disturbing than noise 2. purely physiological one.
containing less information.

● The time of day. People tend to be more

sensitive to noise at night, when they may be
trying to sleep and there is likely to be less
background noise.

● The general sensitivity of individuals.

The Noise Policy Statement for England (NPSE)

define noise pollution as:

● Environmental noise – which includes noise

from transportation sources.

● Neighbor noise – which includes noise from

inside and outside buildings.

● Neighborhood noise – which includes noise

arising from industrial and entertainment
premises, trade and businesses, construction
sites and noise in the street.

Noise pollution can potentially contribute to:

● Hearing impairment.

● Startle and defense reactions.

● Ear pain or discomfort.

● Speech interference.

● Sleep disturbance.

● Annoyance, anger and frustration.

● Cardiovascular effects.
PLANNING I BIOLOGICAL

The Art of Site Planning • Plant communities

Vegetation • Specimen trees
Site Planning – art of arranging structures on the • Exotic invasive trees
land and shaping the spaces b/w an art linked • Endangered of
to architecture, engineering, landscape and Wildlife threatened species
city planning; habitat
Its aim is moral and aesthetic to make places
which enhances everyday life. CULTURAL
Site Planning • Prior land use
• Land use on
It involves the organization of: Land Use
adjoining
properties
1.) land use zoning
2.) circulation
• Land ownership
3.) privacy • Land use
4.) security Legal regulations
5.) shelter • Easements and
6.) land drainage deed restrictions
7.) access
• Water
Arranging the compositional elements of: Utilities • Electric
1.) landform • Sanitary sewer
2.) planting • Traffic volume
3.) water Circulation
• Street function
4.) buildings
5.) paving Historic • Archeological sites
Site planning attributes:
• Noise
PHYSICAL Sensory • Visual quality
• bearing capacity • Odors
• stability
Soil
• erodibility
• fertility SITE ANALYSIS
• elevation - to gather data for preliminary planning,
Topography • foundation type evaluate the site for compatibility with
• slope
the proposed project.
• surface drainage - identification of issues and the character
Hydrology of the site relating to the proposed
• water supply
project.
• seismic hazards
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
Geology • depth to
bedrock - more detailed site investigation that is
usually undertaken after some degree of
• winds
preliminary site planning
Climate • solar access
- includes a geotechnical analysis of
• sun path
subsurface conditions such as depth to
bedrock, depth to groundwater,
seasonal high-water table and soil make
up.
Location Four basic slope forms:

- refers to the project’s relationship to the

community.
- Concerned with visibility, site access and
traffic
o Problems to consider
o Street infrastructure adequate for
the anticipated traffic?
o Is the site accessible from the
street?
o On-site improvements
o Zoning classification
o Utilities nearby
o How far from other facilities such
as school, hospitals,etc
Angle of repose – maximum angle of any earth
Landform
material
A. Topography – the topography of land
can greatly affect the urban pattern.

B. Relationship with Nature – landscaping,

bodies of water, nature in general, and
its relationship with the urban fabric.

Topography and Slopes

GROUND FORMS
Slope form – or slope profile or a silhouette of a
Topographic Map
slope drawn to known proportions with distance
on the horizontal axis and elevation on the Topography – an art or practice of graphic or
vertical axis. exact delineation in minute detail, usually on
maps or charts of the physical features of any
Vertical axis – often exaggerated to ease
place specially in relation to their exact position
construction and accentuate topographic
and elevation.
details.
Contour lines – topographic elevations are
indicated along these lines.
Topographic maps are printed in 5 colors: GIS – Geographic Information System

◼ Black – cultural features (roads, railroads, Slope and Land Use

civil boundaries
• <1% - do not drain well
◼ Blue – water bodies
◼ Green – woodlands • <4% - usable for all kinds of activities
◼ Red – developed urban areas
◼ Brown – contour lines • 4% - 10% - suitable for movement and
informal activity

• >10% - can be actively used only for hill

sports or free play

• 17% - approaches the limit that an

ordinary loaded vehicle can climb, for
any sustained period

• 20% -25% - normal limit of climb for

pedestrians without resorting to stairs

• > 50% - may require terracing or cribbing

Laying-out buildings relative to contour:

Difficult street pattern – a mixture of

meandering and curvilinear could be used

Fundamentals of laying-out buildings:

The essence of land planning for any project:

1. Seek the most suitable site

2. Let the site suggest plan forms

3. Extract the full site potential

Slope Analysis – useful for making decision

about the distribution of land use.

Different angles of slopes have different

implications for development

◼ Building cost (structural)

◼ Land development cost (earth shifting)

Slope Map - a two-dimensional representation

of the gradient of a surface. The algorithm is
based on the formula: “slope equals rise over
run”.
 3.) Mortar bags – treated bags with dry sand-
cement mortar

4.) Rip-nap – facing of dry or grouted units of

stones or cast concrete
1.) Clear the land
2.) Strip the topsoil
3.) Provide a “workable” land profile (that is,
as flat as possible)
4.) Conduct all water to storm sewers (or
else to the edge of the lot) 5.) Piling – interlocking sections of steel on pre-
5.) Build a good wide road – inexpensive but cast concrete
wide
6.) Set the house well back for a big front
yard
7.) Keep the fronts even (this looks neat)
8.) Hold to a minimum side yard
9.) Throw on some lawn seed 6.) Dry-stone wall – cut or un-cut stone laid up
Aesthetic and Utilitarian Functions with open joints

1.) Regarding to provide backdrop and

baffle (structure between trees)
2.) Mountain as windbreak
3.) Mountain as a visual screen
4.) Mountain as sound barrier
5.) As building platform
7.) Cribbing – laid-up “crib” of interlocking
Slope Stabilization Methods
wood, metal or concrete members filled w/
> 50% slope – cannot be protected from erosion rock ballast
in a humid climate, except by terracing,
cribbing or other slope stabilization methods

1.) Mulch – knitting the soil surface by seeding

on the application of a mulch such as wood
chips or shredded bark.

8.) Poured concrete with stone or ceramic

facing

2.) Planting – plant roots and detritus knit and

hold the surface layers
 • Drainage problems are simpler.
Water flows to lowest level
9.) Reinforces-concrete retaining wall
• Adaptable to a great variety of
street patterns

Rolling terrain

More difficult to manage but creates a far more

interesting land development.

• Advantages:

10.) Masonry, cut stone or brick with mortar • More interesting land
development could attract high-
end buyers

• Economies of first cost in sewer

and drainage lines

• The practice of bldg. parallel to

contours will reduce costly
construction, grading and filling

• On very steep sites, the bldg. itself

Level Site could serve as the retaining wall

It offers the planner the best and easiest solution • Disadvantages:

to site development. • Very steep sites could cost
• Advantages: excessive development cost

• Economical in site development • Adaptability to terrain is

imperative
• Adaptable to a great variety of
planning forms (grouping of • Drainage problems though posing
buildings) difficulties may require a workable
system of channeling from one
• Adequate to all types of street area to another
patterns
• Less variety of street pattern
• Disadvantages:
• Less variety of bldg. type
• Grouping of buildings should be
carefully studied to create a Soil Classification
satisfactory system of drainage ◼ Series – each one has an identifying
• Surfaces or recreation areas and place name and further divided
yards require some pitch for according to texture of the surface soil,
discharging water to surface inlets i.e., Marikina clay loam
◼ Texture of surface soil – refers to relative
Sloping terrain % of sand, silt, and clay on the surface
layers
this provides a planner with a variety of building
◼ Series Name – groups soils of similar
types and groupings. Different street patterns
history, constituents, depth, and
could be employed.
structure, therefore, exhibits similar
• Advantages: characteristics as to:
o Bearing capacity, Drainage,
• Variety of bldg. types and bldg.
Agricultural value
groupings
Geological Problems Soil Surveys

2 Main ways in which geology influences site • Soil samples – taken from small pits or by
planning decision-making process: earth augers or boring tubes at many
points where construction is to occur.
1. The soil bearing capacity limiting what
can be built on the site • Systematic borings must be taken for
heavy construction, and the soil and
2. The presence of geological features
rock samples must be tested in
which restrict the options of
specialized laboratories
development because of varying
degrees of hazard to life • Borings:

For Engineering Purposes • 15 m. (50ft.) interval to depths at

least 6 m. (20ft.) below the bottom
• Engineering characteristics – soil stability,
of the proposed foundation, or to
drainage, bearing capacity
bedrock.
• Determine the exact composition of a
• Others:
particular soil body through laboratory
tests on field specimens • Aerial photographs, geological
reports, studying old reports,
Landscaping
examining previous structures and
Topsoil – critical medium for plants excavations, etc.

• Features: Soil Bearing Load Test

• Drainage - Test should be made and interpreted so

as to take into account all significant
• Content of humus factors, such as:
• Relative acidity (pH) • The presence of soft underlying
• Presence of available nutrients, strata
particularly potassium, • Variations in size of footings
phosphorus, and nitrogen
• Compressibility of the soil
Geophysical Investigations encountered
- Made to determine the geologic Groundwater Observations:
conditions that affect the design, safety,
effectiveness and cost of a proposed • Springs
project
• Existing wells
Maps – topographic maps, geologic maps,
• Boreholes
mineral resources maps, soil maps
• Observation wells
Geophysical Methods:
Aquifers – are underground “reservoir” of water.
• Geophysical exploration methods –
The water is not usually held in ponds of water
seismic, electrical resistivity, sonic,
but in the pores between individual particles
electrical logging, magnetic and gravity
which make up the rock, or in the fissures of the
methods
rock.
• Subsurface borings – probing, wash
borings, core drilling, calyx drilling,
borehole photography, churn drilling,
jack and hammer drilling

• Test pits, trenches, tunnels

Water Table

• Low water table – problem for water

supply and for vegetation

• Fluctuating water table – will cause

heavy clay soil alternatively to shrink and
swell

• High water table – difficulties in

excavation, cause flooding in
basements, flood utilities and unstable
foundations

• Underground water course – no structure

should be sited over them

• Underground water course – critical and

no structure should be sited over them

• Floodplains – soil is likely to be deep and

uniform perhaps with alternating layers of
fine and coarse material

• 10-year floodplain

• 50-year floodplain

• 100-year