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Factors Affecting Acoustics in Buildings

There are seven key factors that affect the acoustics of buildings: 1) reverberation time, 2) echoes, 3) loudness, 4) echelon effect, 5) noise, 6) resonance, and 7) focusing. Solutions for each include using sound absorbing materials, avoiding parallel hard surfaces, adjusting materials used in rooms, ensuring steps are different widths, adding trees or insulation, damping vibrations, and avoiding curved surfaces or covering them.

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Reign Janda
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4K views2 pages

Factors Affecting Acoustics in Buildings

There are seven key factors that affect the acoustics of buildings: 1) reverberation time, 2) echoes, 3) loudness, 4) echelon effect, 5) noise, 6) resonance, and 7) focusing. Solutions for each include using sound absorbing materials, avoiding parallel hard surfaces, adjusting materials used in rooms, ensuring steps are different widths, adding trees or insulation, damping vibrations, and avoiding curved surfaces or covering them.

Uploaded by

Reign Janda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

What are the seven (7) factors affecting the acoustics of buildings?

Explain & give at least one


solution/remedy for each.

1. Reverberation Time
It is perceived as the time it takes for the sound to decay or fade away over a certain
dynamic range. It should be neither too long nor too short. If the reverberation time is too
short, it’ll make a room dead, while a long reverberation time renders speech unintelligible.

Solution: Reverberation time can be controlled by limiting the number of windows or


covering windows with curtains.

2. Echoes
It is a sound which is caused by a noise being reflected off a surface such as a wall. Echoes
are formed when walls are parallel, hard, and separated by 34m distance.

Solution: Echoes could be avoided by covering opposite walls and high ceiling with
absorptive materials such as polyester panels or PEPP sound panels.

3. Loudness
It is the subjective perception of sound pressure. Sufficient loudness in a room is an
important factor for satisfactory hearing.

Remedy: Adjusting the absorptive materials that are used in a room to improve the
situation.

4. Echelon Effect
It refers to the generation of a new separate sound due to multi-echo. For example, a flight
of steps with equal width, the sound waves reflected from them will consist of echoes with
regular phase difference.

Remedy: Echelon effect could be prevented by having steps of unequal width and covering
them with proper sound absorbing materials.

5. Noise
It is the unwanted sound that is considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to hearing.

a. Air-borne Noise: It is the noise that comes from distant sources through air.

Solution: A building could be shaded from noise by putting up a zone of trees.

b. Structure-borne Noise: It is the noise that comes from the impact sources in a structure
such as footsteps, operating machinery, etc.

Solution: Cavity walls or compound walls could be used to decrease noise transmission.

c. Internal Noise: It is the noise produced within a room. Example is from the sound of air
conditioners.

Solution: The room could be provided with sufficient sound absorbing materials.

6. Resonance
It occurs when sound waves cause physical vibration in surrounding objects and the
vibrating objects produce sound waves in return. Hence, resonance may result in distortion
of the original sound.

Solution: The vibration of objects could be suitably damped to eliminate resonance.

7. Focusing
Sound focusing is the conversion of diverging spherical or cylindrical sound waves into
converging waves. Reflective concave surfaces cause concentration of reflected sound,
creating a larger intensity of sound at the focal point. Such concentrations of sound intensity
at some points lead to “dead spots” or deficiency of reflected sound at other points.

Solution: Dead spots could be eliminated by avoiding curved interiors or covering them with
highly absorptive materials.

What are the seven (7) factors affecting the acoustics of buildings? Explain & give at least one solution/remedy for each. 1
It occurs when sound waves cause physical vibration in surrounding objects and the vibrating objects produce sound waves in

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