Obtaining adequate speech privacy in modern buildings is one of the important goals of the architect and consultant. This paper deals with the development of a rating method which takes into account the several factors influencing speech privacy. Our work in this area began with a brief laboratory study. The results indicated that speech privacy is related to speech intelligibility rather than to level. The initial experiments were supplemented with an analysis of about 40 case histories representing about 400 pairs of spaces in different kinds of buildings. There appears to be good correlation between the articulation index of intruding speech sound and the reactions of building occupants.
This paper describes a single wall which, by proper distribution of massive elements on light, stiff plates, provides higher transmission loss than predicted by mass law for limp constructions. With sufficiently low damping, the masses and the unloaded plate areas will, at resonance, oscillate 180° out of phase. With uniform spacing of the masses, the average displacement of the wall would be zero, thus theoretically providing infinite TL at one frequency. A random mass distribution gives improved TL over a wider range of frequencies. At higher frequencies, mass law predictions will not be reached. The behavior of this construction can be represented by an inductance (mass) coupled in parallel with a capacitor (stiffness). Prototypes have been constructed and measured to corroborate the theory and the data are given.
The notion of a single number rating for speech privacy problems in buildings [B. G. Watters, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 32, 917 (1960)] has been developed further. The resulting system rates both the measured noise reduction of the isolating construction and the background (masking) noise levels. It also takes into account those other factors that determine the acceptability of speech privacy between spaces such as the size of the rooms, the level of speech effort in the spaces, and the degree of privacy needed by the occupants. The ratings calculated, using this system, are compared with observed subjective evaluations of the occupants in a large number of field situations.
Research and veterinary facilities almost always require outdoor areas for housing animals. In the design of such facilities, it is important to consider potential neighborhood annoyance due to animal noises. Acoustical analyses of two animal research centers are presented. The analyses take into account such factors as spectra of animal sounds, location and orientation of facilities, sound propagation out of doors, neighborhood reactions to noise, etc. Included are measured spectra for some animal sounds (those of dogs and monkeys). These spectra peak sharply in the 600- to 1200-cps region, and, as a result, this frequency region will usually be most critical in determining neighborhood reactions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.