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Building Acoustics

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Springer Handbook of Acoustics

Part of the book series: Springer Handbooks ((SHB))

Abstract

This chapter summarizes and explains key concepts of building acoustics. These issues include the behavior of sound waves in rooms, the most commonly used rating systems for sound and sound control in buildings, the most common noise sources found in buildings, practical noise control methods for these sources, and the specific topic of office acoustics. Common noise issues for multi-dwelling units can be derived from most of the sections of this chapter. Books can be and have been written on each of these topics, so the purpose of this chapter is to summarize this information and provide appropriate resources for further exploration of each topic.

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Abbreviations

AC:

articulation class

ANSI:

American National Standards Institute

CAC:

ceiling attenuation class

CMU:

concrete masonry unit

HVAC:

heating, ventilating and air conditioning

NRC:

noise reduction coefficient

OITC:

outdoor–indoor transmission class

RASTI:

rapid speech transmission index

SAA:

sound absorption average

SIL:

sound intensity level

SIL:

speech interference level

SPL:

sound pressure level

STC:

sound transmission class

STI:

speech transmission index

TL:

transmission loss

References

  1. W.J. Cavanaugh, W.R. Farrell, P.W. Hirtle, B.G. Watters: Speech privacy in buildings  J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 34(4), 475–492 (1962)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Resource Systems Group Inc., 85001, White River Junction, VT, USA

    James Cowan

Authors
  1. James Cowan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to James Cowan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, Stanford University, 94305, Stanford, CA, USA

    Thomas D. Rossing Prof.

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© 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC New York

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Cowan, J. (2007). Building Acoustics. In: Rossing, T. (eds) Springer Handbook of Acoustics. Springer Handbooks. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30425-0_11

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