| | WELCOME TO OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER | We plan to keep our newsletter short and to the point, presenting news, articles,
and facts you’ll find interesting, informative and even entertaining. |
| | Auralizations are computer simulations created to imitate an acoustic environment. When you listen to an auralization with high quality headphones, you can hear what a room will sound like. You can hear the differences that design changes make. You can hear the difference that acoustical treatments make.
Do you want to hear the difference in sound isolation between an STC 35 and STC 45 wall assembly? …or the effect of adding treatment to your gymnasium or auditorium?
D.L. Adams Associates can create auralizations for nearly any situation to help you make design decisions with confidence. |
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| | | DLAA Website Re-launch!:
Elevated Third plans to make our online presence a much more visual and aural experience. By combining high quality photography with interactive audio elements, the new website will allow users to see and hear the difference we make on our clients' projects. The site will be built with Drupal, an open-source content management system, making it easy for us to provide fresh content as needed. The new site will be completed in the coming months.
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| Tips for Architects and Contractors | : Cost Reduction for Multi-Family Housing Project |
| Not all acoustical recommendations increase the cost of a project. For example, the sound isolation criteria for one of our multi-family projects was to meet the IBC airborne and impact sound minimum code requirements, since the units were categorized as “entry level” or “affordable." The architect’s proposed floor-ceiling assembly included a steel floor joist system with cementitious underlayment and acoustical underlayment over a plywood subfloor. Two layers of 5/8” gypsum board were to be resiliently suspended from the underside of the floor joists. After estimating the STC/IIC rating of the assembly, we advised the architect that one layer of gypsum board could be eliminated in the ceiling and the design criteria would still be met. The design also included acoustical underlayment in areas where carpet was to be installed. We advised that the acoustic underlayment could be eliminated in the carpeted areas and the floor/ceiling assembly would still meet the IIC design criteria. Of course, this had long-term implications, because the unit owner could not change the flooring to a hard surface such as wood or tile at some time in the future without installing acoustical underlayment in these areas. The architect and developer elected to | |
| eliminate the underlayment in the areas with carpeting to reduce the initial cost and include restrictions regarding changes in floor coverings in the covenants. |
| | | As a specialty consulting firm, we have our fair share of clients who call asking our help to find an elusive noise. A typical scenario may be a property manager with a tenant complaining about any manner of supposed noises keeping them up at night. While the property manager and maintenance workers are unable to hear or find the source of noise, the complainant is so persistent that we are brought in to help. Sometimes we find the offending noise to be of the “phantom” variety. Those noises never seem to happen when an expert is listening, even with all the fancy equipment we can muster up. This scenario may end in frustration for all parties involved.
Once in a while, however, we are blown out of the water. Recently I was asked to investigate a noise that led to many complaints from the children in a local school. The noise was so problematic that some children would refuse to even enter the room with the offending noise. The staff and teachers could not hear the alleged noise.
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| Upon entering the room, I was bombarded by a very high frequency tone. The easiest way I can think to describe the noise is that within 30 seconds of being in the room I felt like I had a splitting headache. When the staff wouldn’t believe that I could hear the noise, I opened up my trusty sound level meter. Sure enough, I was able to show them the 50 decibel spike in noise at 17,000 Hertz. A 50 decibel spike is extraordinary when you consider that a 10 decibel spike sounds about twice as loud. Everyone was relieved that the noise did exist, and the kids weren’t just trying to skip out of class. The offending equipment was determined to be a faulty loudspeaker that was easily disconnected, and everyone went on their merry way.
It is normal for adults to lose some hearing with age, particularly at very high frequencies. But when an entire school’s kids won’t go into a room because of a high pitch noise, it’s time to call in an expert.
P.S.: Have you ever heard of the “mosquito” ring tone that was introduced a few years back? Can you hear it? I bet your kids can. |
| | New Projects | Colorado Heights University – Denver School of Science and Technology
Englewood 7-12 Campus
| Completed Projects | | National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Research Support Facility | |
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