EVALUATING PRIVACY CONCERNS

Unwanted sound can distract us from sleep, work, and personal time. While poor sound isolation is often attributed to noises we don’t want to hear, it can also allow sounds we don’t want heard. This is often the case in medical office buildings (MOB) where HIPAA requirements dictate patient/doctor conversations remain private. Government facilities operated by GSA and the Department of Defense (DOD) also have confidentiality requirements for specific conference, huddle and SCIF rooms. If sound isolation is not addressed in these facilities during design, speech privacy problems can arise. In multi-family dwellings such as apartments, condominiums, and townhomes, privacy complaints can become a problem that Homeowners Associations (HOAs) need to address.  Building codes also have sound isolation criteria for multi-family dwellings.

Acoustical consultants are able to perform field tests on existing wall and floor-ceiling assemblies separating spaces (offices, residential units, townhomes, etc.). We use the test data to identify the problem and recommend solutions.

STC TESTING: WHAT IS INVOLVED?

The Sound Transmission Class (STC) is a single-number rating of the sound isolation of a wall or floor-ceiling assembly. The higher the STC, the better the partition is at reducing sound transmission between spaces. To quantify the sound isolation of an assembly in an existing building, Apparent Sound Transmission Class (ASTC) tests are performed.

To perform an ASTC test, we need access to rooms on both sides of the wall (or floor) being tested. In residential complexes, this usually means we need to get into two different units. In commercial buildings, we may need access to two different businesses. It is necessary that the building be relatively quiet during the testing process, which may require the cooperation of neighbors and other building tenants. Loud noise is generated during the test but only for short periods of time. One test is normally completed in about 90 minutes.