Why do we need acoustics?

Acoustics affects everyone on a daily basis – from homeowners, office workers,

students and hospital patients, to professionals working in the design and
construction industries. Therefore, knowing the basics of architectural acoustics
and the meaning of acoustical design and construction is essential; terms like
sound transmission class (STC) and noise reduction coefficient (NRC) are only the
beginning.

Why acoustics matter in homes and buildings

Constructing new buildings – be they homes, schools, office towers or industrial

workplaces – has become an increasingly sophisticated exercise. We know more
today than ever before about the importance of building structures that are energy-
efficient, safe and comfortable for occupants. Creating these high-performance
buildings begins at the planning stage with design professionals and technical
experts who consider all the factors that go into making spaces perform as they are
intended – whether optimizing productivity for office workers, quiet recovery areas
for patients, good acoustics in learning environments for students, or any number
of other examples to bring the acoustical properties of a space in line with its
intended use.

One of the factors that often gets overlooked at the planning stage is acoustics, yet
the acoustic environment of a building can have a significant impact on the
occupants’ experiences. For example, research has established that sound can
negatively affect health and recovery periods in hospitals. Design trends that are
driving the creation of open workspaces for collaboration may also have the effect
of decreasing privacy and productivity. Construction practices and products
selected to meet sustainability goals may, at times, inadvertently sacrifice the
ability of a space to deliver occupant comfort by decreasing unwanted noise.

Considering the acoustic needs of a building at the start of the planning process can
help save time and money by reducing the need for renovations or retrofits once
construction is completed. Within this acoustics article series, we focus on
rethinking the role of acoustical design and engineering. Increasing awareness and
understanding of acoustics among industry professionals, including architects and
designers, building owners, as well as the general population, will only help drive
this shift. Occupants of these high-performance buildings will continue to demand
that sound be a key consideration in new construction.
What is sound?

At its most basic level, sound is a very small and very rapid fluctuation in air
pressure above and below atmospheric pressure. All sounds – an HVAC system, a
vibrating cell phone on a desk, road traffic – operate using this principle. The ear is
very sensitive to sound sources and the range of pressure vibration from the
weakest to the loudest sound heard is extremely large.

The ear doesn’t experience sound in a linear fashion. Instead, it uses a logarithmic
scale with a measure of energy in decibels (dB). To the ear, a sound heard at 60dB
only needs to decrease to 50dB to experience this sound as being half as loud.
Furthermore, a sound going from 60dB to 40dB (i.e. a busy street to a quiet
library), would be experienced as an even more dramatic change. The potential for
a sound to damage our hearing is proportional to its intensity, not its loudness as
shown in the table below.

Facts about sound

 Acoustical engineers use decibels (dB) to measure sound or quantify sound

loudness.
 The energy in the loudest sounds typically heard is one million times that in
the weakest sounds audible.
 The ear is a tremendously sensitive organ; the range of pressure variation
from the weakest to loudest sounds heard is extremely large.
 To make a sound twice as loud requires 10 times as much power. Inversely,
to make it half as loud, 90 percent of the sound must be eliminated.
How is sound measured?

Acoustical engineers use decibels to quantify sound loudness, but when it comes to
acoustics design in buildings, that measure is just one way of evaluating its
performance.

There are two primary metrics used in noise measurement for evaluating the
acoustic performance in a building’s acoustical performance – acoustical
absorption and sound transmission loss.

Acoustical absorption is the ability of a material to absorb rather than reflect sound
(think about the difference between jumping onto a trampoline vs into a pile of
pillows). Sound transmission loss refers to a material’s ability to reduce sound
transfer from one space to another (i.e. blocking noise or sound between rooms).
When you’re trying to find a solution to meet good architectural acoustics
requirements for your next project, it is important to know the difference between
the two.

When referring to sound absorption, you should look for products that absorb
reverberation and echoes in a room. If you want a product that will stop or block a
sound, you’ll need a heavier, denser material. Materials with high sound absorption
are not great for stopping sound transmission. For example, concrete is great for
sound transmission loss, but not great for sound absorption.

Stone wool ceiling tiles provide high absorption levels, whereas ROCKWOOL’s
wall and roofing products as components of an assembly can help reduce sound
between rooms as well as noise from the exterior environment. Depending on the
application, the acoustical properties of the building materials you specify and use
will play a significant role in overall soundproofing
What is architectural acoustics?

Architectural acoustics is the study of sound in homes and other buildings and the
design of those structures for optimal acoustic performance, including control of
sound transmission throughout the building, maintaining conditions for good
speech intelligibility, and maintaining sound isolation for speech privacy.

All of the sounds we hear on a daily basis can contribute to a host of problems.
Environmental noise in particular, is an area of focus for European researchers who
have recently measured the health complications it can present. In addition to
negatively affecting the occupants’ energy level, those complications can include
everything from heart disease and tinnitus to sleep deprivation and cognitive
impairment, with the potential to take years off the average person’s life.

Environmental noise includes transportation noise – road traffic, railway and

aircraft – wind turbine noise and leisure noise. Leisure noise refers to all noise
sources that people are exposed to during activities such as attending nightclubs,
restaurants, fitness classes, live sporting events or live music venues, and listening
to loud music through personal listening devices.

Within the built environment, it would be easy to think that indoor noise might not
have any adverse impact compared to environmental noise. However, even within
the confines of a building, architectural acoustics play a significant role in the
occupant’s experience (e.g. environmental noise can be periodic and decrease
during evening hours and overnight, while excessive reverberation inside a room is
always present, interfering with every word spoken).

Every element of a building’s construction contributes to its acoustical

characteristics. It’s more than just walls and ceilings: its shapes, surfaces, furniture,
light fixtures, mechanical systems and materials used in construction all have an
impact on a building’s acoustics. When the acoustical properties of materials are
not considered during the specification process, the result is too often a poor
acoustical environment. The conversation around healthier buildings often focuses
on light and air quality, but the noise levels also significantly impact health and
wellbeing. Increasingly, though, many industry standards, guidelines and building
rating systems now have acoustic criteria sections, elevating the importance of
acoustics in building occupant wellbeing.
Architectural acoustics involves designing a building to control how soundwaves
reverberate off its interior in such a way as to maximize clarity, amplifying sound
in areas where it’s appropriate to do so, and reducing noise levels where doing so
is beneficial.

Doing this involves considering several factors, including the geometry of the
room and the materials used in construction — specifically their sound-absorbing
or enhancing qualities. Mechanical systems can play a role, too: Fans, motors, and
other mechanical components can create noises that cause unwanted distractions
and may interfere with the transmission of communication.

Architects take these factors into account when designing buildings with the proper
surfaces, shapes, and mechanical systems to distribute and control sound
effectively.
Interestingly, research has found there’s actually an optimal room shape for
achieving perfect acoustics: it’s rectangular and constructed using the golden ratio
(8 feet high by 12.8 feet wide and 18.64 feet long).

When it comes to materials, softer materials such as carpet, fiberglass insulation,

and foam padding tend to absorb sound well, while harder materials such as
concrete and brick tend to reflect it. Wood can reflect sound well, but if holes are
drilled in it, it can also absorb it.

Mechanical components can be placed at a distance from rooms to minimize their

impact on acoustics, and noise-controls such as insulation and technology can also
be employed.

The Purpose of Acoustic Design

As we’ve already suggested, good acoustic design can serve multiple purposes,
including the following:
 Decreasing stress and anxiety levels

 Preserving hearing

 Aiding in concentration

 Reducing or minimizing hypertension

 Improving speech communication

 Maximizing the enjoyment of musical performances

Communication, in particular, is helped by good acoustics through the interplay of

several factors. Properly designed acoustics aid in the clear transmission of verbal
communication while at the same time reducing unwanted noise, thereby reducing
distraction and aiding in concentration.
The elimination of loud noises, moreover, can contribute to the preservation of
hearing over time

Architectural Acoustic Techniques

Whether you’re designing an auditorium, library, or music hall, it’s important to
understand the qualities of sound, how it’s transmitted, and techniques that can be
used to control that transmission.
How can you block outside noise from entering a room or building?
There are three components to any plan for managing exterior sound: understanding the
source-path-receiver model, selecting the right acoustic insulation for continuous exterior
assemblies, and following general tips to soundproof from environmental noise pollution.

Part 1: Understanding the source-path-receiver model

When it comes to managing exterior sound, the source-path-receiver model continues to be

useful. Looking at a commercial building, industrial facility, or even a residential home, the
principle remains the same: start by looking at all the possible sources of noise and then look
at all the possible entry points, or pathways, for the sound to travel. That list includes the
roof, windows and doors, and wall assemblies.

Do you know which of these are the weakest sections of the building envelope when it comes
to blocking external sound? You wouldn’t be alone if you assumed it was the exterior wall
and roof systems. But you’d be wrong. Windows and doors are the most common culprit for
allowing exterior sound to negatively affect the indoor environment.

That being said, building and design professionals are always encouraged to design exterior
wall and roof insulation systems to help block as much of that environmental noise as
possible. The overall mass of the wall and roof systems is what blocks most of the noise, but
concrete alone isn’t usually sufficient, as it’s a poor medium for controlling other interior
conditions, e.g. temperature. In addition, insulating exterior wall and roof systems means
interior designers might even gain some freedom – needing fewer wall assemblies or other
materials to block and absorb sound because the external noise is minimized by the building
envelope.

Part 2: Selecting the right acoustic insulation for continuous exterior assemblies

Construction practices from architects and builders are important in reducing noise and sound
transmission. Pay close attention to material selection for insulation. When it comes to
acoustic insulation, noise sources near the building will have a major effect on what type of
building envelope material should be used.

The strategy behind noise control with insulation? You can improve the indoor acoustics and
reduce stressors by limiting structure and airborne transmission from external sources by
integrating sound reduction measures into the basic planning and layout of your home or
building.

Consider the following checklist when evaluating the insulation to use in your CI
applications, which as outlined above, is now a required practice under most building code
legislation.

 Raw materials used in manufacturing the insulation

 Manufacturing processes
 Operational performance
 Combustibility of the insulation
 Moisture mitigation properties
 Overall durability
 Impact on acoustic performance (OITC / STC)

Part 3: Tips for soundproofing from environmental noise pollution

To soundproof your building from environmental noise pollution, consider the acoustical
performance of every assembly on the building envelope. Noise travels through the weakest
sections of the building envelope, meaning the effectiveness of a high-performing wall or
roof system may be reduced when the rest of the building is not equally designed.

In many cases, unwanted noise can enter the building under a door, through a window, your
roof, or a connected exterior wall. This type of noise is called flanking noise. The assembly
and its connecting features should be tested during the planning stage of a project to
minimize flanking through the building envelope, especially the parts of the enclosure that
are known deficits in a wall or roofing design (e.g. windows and doors).

Review and consider all of the following applications during the planning process of your
next project:

 Roofing: Stone or mineral wool insulation has superior sound abatement properties, which is
essential when designing today’s roof system. High-performing systems using stone wool
insulation can add mass layers to assist with improving the sound attenuation properties of the
assembly. Research has shown dense acoustic roof insulation, including stone wool flute
fillers, are an effective solution to reducing sound transmission through a roof.
 Connecting assemblies: Areas of deficiency for façade sound transmission paths can be things
such as roof soffits, vents, fans, air sealing details and probably many others depending on the
type of façade system being constructed.
 Exterior wall systems: How can you reduce exterior noise coming in through walls? For
starters, the addition of better acoustic performance in your exterior wall assemblies comes
down to the type of construction and the building materials being used. All insulation for
exterior walls should be designed to meet or exceed energy code. Soundproof your exterior
walls using the right materials that offer improved acoustic performance (like stone wool)
while still meeting the other demands of your assembly to create cost-effective solutions and
 more livable spaces. For example, foam plastic insulation with multiple layers of gypsum
could be optimized with stone wool insulation and a single layer of gypsum.
 Windows and doors: Windows are one of the largest deficits in building wall design for
acoustical control and heat loss. Pay careful attention when designing the windows and their
connections to the wall elements for a high-performance wall system. Consider the type of
window (we recommend double- or triple -pane for best soundproofing), the pane thickness
and how it will be installed.

The higher the likelihood of exterior noise (i.e. traffic noise or aircraft) the more assemblies
including the roof-ceiling and exterior walls should be focused on sound isolation. All
exterior penetrations and joints between components should be sealed as required for thermal
performance which will also improve the building acoustics.

The common thread throughout these tips for soundproofing from environmental noise
pollution is using stone wool which provides a high-density acoustic insulation solution. This
makes the insulation resistant to airflow and excellent at noise reduction and sound
absorption. This means that even the loudest infrastructure will sound quieter for occupants
living, working or learning inside the structure. See below for an overview of three
assemblies focused on the exterior walls and roof systems of the building and demonstrating
which combination of construction and materials provide the highest levels of STC, OITC,
and R-Value.

1. An acoustic baseline for wall assemblies

2. High-performance enclosures: stone wool insulation wall systems

3. High-performance enclosures: stone wool hybrid roof systems
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