Since August this year a new standard was published in the Netherlands dealing with noise at the workplace. An international interest in this standard will soon result in an english version to be made available. Planning for that is early next year. The full title is NPR 3438 Noise at the workplace – Determination of […]
Various
Meeting with the Acoustical Society of America.
On November 27th to December 1st 2007 the Acoustical Society of America held one of it’s two annual meetings in New Orleans, Louisiana. Interesting areas covered in the conference were Speech communication, Speech perception, Architectural Acoustics, Education in acoustics and Noise. Hot items in acoustics in US right now are privacy in healthcare and environmental […]
Sustainable design and acoustics at ICA 2007 in Madrid
Alexis Kurtz from Arup Acoustics in New York presented a paper on the issue of sustainable and/or green buildings. She exposed a valuable overview of various green building rating systems globally. Sustainable design covers more than just environmental aspects – it also includes economic and societal benefits, she claims. Acoustics is often not included, leading […]
A new Dutch standard has seen daylight! Presented at ICA 2007 in Madrid!
Ruud Geerligs The new Dutch Practical Guideline NPR 3438 was recently published and released. This guideline (or standard) covers the field of acoustic ergonomics and gives target values for the room acoustical environment in relation to disturbance of concentration and communication. NPR 3438 can be used for building and housing projects covering building types like […]
Take acoustic design more seriously
Acoustic environment in Finnish offices, the summary of questionnaire studies Riikka Helenius, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health The result from a recent office study including 8 Finnish offices were presented. The acoustical conditions of the 8 offices represented typical Finnish offices. Noise and thermal conditions were experienced as the most disturbing work environment factors. The […]
Highly intelligible background speech of 55 dB(A) impairs cognitive performance
Reported live from ICA Madrid Sabine Schlittmeier Sabine Schlittmeier, psychologist at Eichstätt University in Germany, presented her paper called Background speech varying in intelligibility – Effects on coginitive perfromance and perceived disturbance. Sabine presented three experiments, which tested the impact of background speech varying in intelligibility and/or level on basic cognitive functions (verbal short-term memory, […]
Vomiting is the most horrible sound ever!
Over a million votes were cast worldwide in an online science experiment. University of Salford in UK and Professor Trevor Cox analysed the results of public perceptions of unpleasant sounds. Listen and experience yourself Read more here!
More resources for future acoustic research in Denmark
In December 2006 the Danish National Institute for Occupational Health published the result of a large study of the working environment in Danish workplaces. More than 9.000 people participated in the research (NAK) and it was discovered that noise and poor acoustics is perceived as a serious problem. This is one of the reasons why […]
Good acoustics with Wall Panels
As a complement to an acoustic ceiling it is sometimes useful to attach absorbing panels to the walls. This could be the case when a disturbing flutter echo is present or expected and gives an unpleasant coloration to the sound. Another situation is when the amount of sound diffusing objects is small, resulting in long […]
Background to the European Standard EN 12354, part 6
In the latest issue of Acta Acoustica united with Acustica, Eddy Gerritsen (TNO) discusses engineering methods for the prediction of reverberation time and sound pressure levels in spaces with non-diffuse conditions. The assumptions and theoretical considerations behind the formulas in EN 12354-6 annex D are clarified. There is definitely a need for engineering models to […]
