BEAM Plus Interiors Manual

BEAM P

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NTERIORS

OMMERCIAL

, R

ETAIL

NSTITUTIONAL

NDOOR

NVIRONMENTAL

UALITY

(IEQ)

IEQ 11 A

COUSTICS

ACKGROUND

The internal noise levels in occupied spaces are important to the well-

being of a person. It can have major impacts on the concentration and

productivity of the occupants. Higher noise levels may lead to hearing

impairment and health hazard. An important first step in architectural

acoustic design is to identify appropriate values of reverberation time

for the intended use of a room and then to specify materials to be

used in the construction which will achieve the desired value of the

reverberation time for a given space and use. The focus for BEAM is

on the acoustic qualities in workplaces such as offices and

classrooms, libraries, and retails, etc.

Room acoustics is complex, and defining performance with a single

metric is problematic, an important acoustic measurement is the

reverberation time.

It is used to determine how quickly sound decays in a room, and

offers a relatively simple assessment of acoustical design.

Another problem is noise transmitted between spaces, through walls

and through floors, which are not addressed under the local Building

Regulations, but have been a matter for legislation elsewhere. The

extent to which walls and floor can attenuate unwanted noise from

neighbours and neighbouring spaces is an important aspect of

controlling noise levels in interior spaces.

As far as airborne noise transmission is concerned the weakest link in

the chain occurs around gaps, openings and penetrations through the

envelope, typically including ventilation system, conduits, recessed

conduit boxes installed back to back, access panels, and doors.

Further guidance on the design of walls and floors, and guidelines for

assessing performance is available in the literature [

British Standards Institution BS8233 – Sound insulation and noise reduction for buildings – Code of Practice.