Sound Advice for Acoustic Design

In Sound Advice for Acoustic Design, you'll learn ...

• Basic acoustic principles, including how its energy moves through matter, how its path and intensity can be altered, and how success in the manipulation of sound is measured
• Design strategies for controlling sound moving from exterior to interior, from interior spaces to adjacent spaces, within interior spaces, and through structural components and building systems
• Acoustic design considerations for numerous common building functions

Overview

Preview a portion of this course before purchasing it.

Credit: 4 PDH

Length: 63 pages

Unwanted sound impacts and affects inhabitants of our created spaces. If it is not already, controlling noise will quickly become a mandated concern for designers. Attesting to increasing regulatory focus on noise is a recent proliferation of standards, guidelines, and codes regarding acoustics.

Very soon, many of these guidelines will no longer be mere suggestions. Most concerns covered in these standards can be addressed with a basic understanding of how sound travels and is reflected, blocked, absorbed, or transmitted by materials and assemblies chosen in designing envelopes.

Acoustic design is best addressed in an incremental fashion. This course was written to do just that. Fundamentals are first covered, including basic principles regarding sound, how its energy moves through matter, how its path and intensity can be altered, and how success in the manipulation of sound is measured. Known design strategies are discussed for controlling sound moving; from exterior to interior spaces, from interior spaces to adjacent spaces, within interior spaces, through structural components, and through building systems. Design considerations are outlined for numerous common building functions. Finally, acoustic codes and guidelines in existence now are listed for consideration.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Explain the terminology and principles governing how sound is generated, transmitted through matter, and modified by material selection.
• Identify exterior and interior noise sources that affect building users, including airborne and structure-borne sound.
• Describe design practices for controlling sound transfer between exterior and interior spaces.
• Explain methods for controlling noise transfer from one interior space to adjacent spaces.
• Describe design practices for controlling reverberation within interior spaces.
• Explain how sound affects building users based on the environment and the receiver's ability to perceive it.
• Apply sound-measurement methods to quantify acoustic design goals and assess whether those goals have been met.
• Identify acoustic design objectives and recommended practices for building types in which poor acoustics can affect user productivity and health.
• Recognize common gaps in spatial enclosures and explain how to eliminate weaknesses that undermine acoustic design intentions.
• Summarize regulations and guidelines that establish or may establish requirements related to acoustic design.

Certificate of Completion

You will be able to immediately print a certificate of completion after passing a multiple-choice quiz consisting of 20 questions. PDH credits are not awarded until the course is completed and quiz is passed.