The aesthetic and functional appeal of high-performance, open-plan office buildings presents special challenges. Extensive use of glass at the building’s perimeter to improve visual comfort and office communication can negatively impact acoustic comfort without proper design considerations. This study investigates the utility of a novel visualization approach to documenting the interactional impact of acoustical comfort on the health and well-being of occupants in an open-office environment. Room acoustic measurements of background noise and speech transmission index were conducted and distraction distances were calculated and visualized using a mapping technique. In addition, a comprehensive pre- and post-occupancy evaluation protocol was employed. The paper illustrates the reliability of the visualization approach to aid in the interpretation and comparison of various open-office acoustic solutions from a human-centric acoustic environment perspective.
Round-robin testing determined that a high degree of reproducibility exists between laboratories that conduct sound absorption measurements in accordance with ASTM C423. Factors that include room dimension, source location and diffuser type have been identified as sources for differences in measurement results. Such lab to lab testing variation presents a challenge when reverberation chambers are replaced with new design and construction features that are not identical. An iterative process is required to produce measurements that match historical results. The presentation will describe the design approach utilized to construct a new reverberation room with different dimensions, diffuser types and materials. Experimental data will be presented showing the results of modifications made to the chamber after achieving initial qualification metrics. The iterative process provided an opportunity to study the impact of diffuser type and surface area and other properties on reducing the performance gap between the two reverberation rooms.
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