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Acoustics of Green Buildings

Ralph T Muehleisen Ph.D., P.E., LEED AP BD+C, INCE Board Certified, FASA Principal Building Scientist Argonne National Lab

Outline Part I: What is a Green Building?


Environmental Impacts of Buildings How Green Buildings Help The LEED Green Building Rating system

Part II: Acoustics of Green Buildings


Conflicts between Green Building Design and Office Acoustics Synergies and Opportunities for Better Acoustics in Green Buildings

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Part I: What is a Green Building

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Why Do We Need Green Buildings? To understand the Acoustics of Green Buildings, we also have to understand what Green buildings are and understand how they are different than conventional buildings. But, before we discuss what they are, lets take a minute to discuss why people want to make buildings more green to begin with
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Rise in CO2 Emissions and Global Warming The scientific community agrees that the earth is warming from man made CO2 emissions. Much of that is from buildings

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How Is This Related to Buildings?

Global CO2 Emissions by Sector:

#1: Buildings
#2: Industry
#3: Transportation

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CO2 Sources and Emitters in

2444 Of 6576

Source: EIA Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the US 2009


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Energy Flow in the US


US Energy use in Quads (Quadrillions of BTU)

39.36 Of 94.58

1 Quad =1010therms= 1015BTU = 3.141015Wh= 3.14109MWh

Source: EIA Annual Energy Review 2009


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Why Do We Need Green Buildings? Buildings account for a LOT of resource use and greenhouse gas emission. In the US buildings account for:

13% of
Potable Water Use

37% of
Greenhouse Gas

41% of
Primary Energy Use

72% of
Electricity Consumption

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What Can We Reduce With Green Buildings?

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What Other Benefits Do Green Buildings Provide?

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What is a Green Building?


Green buildings are buildings that are better for the environment (i.e more sustainable) than a conventional building in one or more ways. These ways include: Lower energy use in construction and operation Less water use in construction and/or operation Destroy less of the environment during construction and/or operation Provide a better indoor environmental quality (leading to better worker satisfaction and performance)
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How Are Green Buildings Different?


Green building design aspects focus on reduced energy use, water use, and more use of sustainable materials through: More use of natural ventilation More use of daylight and passive solar heating More use of radiant heating/cooling More use of wood and stone and less use of fiberglass or mineral fibers More use of glass for daylight integration and views of outside world Less interior walls and partitions
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How Do We Know If A Building Is Green? One way in which buildings are determined to be Green or not is through Green building rating systems
Energy Star (from US EPA and DOE) LEED (from US Green Building Council) Green Globes (from Green Building Initiative) ASHRAE 189 (standard from ASHRAE) BREEAM (from UK) Green Star (from Green Building Council Australia)

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Introduction to LEED LEED is the predominate Green Building Rating system in the US so lets explain it in a bit more detail. Most of the other rating systems are fairly similar, it tends to be details that are different. Those of you who were familiar with LEED and maybe even are a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) but have not kept up to date might find something new in here

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What is LEED? Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a system for rating Green Buildings Buildings are Certified as LEED when they have a high enough rating.
There are multiple levels of certification

Getting a building LEED certified is voluntary except when it isnt


Many state and local governments require LEED certification of any building built with public funds Some municipalities (e.g. San Francisco) are requiring LEED certification for any new construction or major renovation
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What LEED is NOT LEED is NOT a city in the UK


That would be Leeds

Is NOT building code


That is municipal law that regulates building design and construction
E.G. The International Building Code

Is NOT a construction standard


They usually define performance levels of specific building components and describe methods of how to measure performance
E.G. ASHRAE 90.1 Energy Standard, ANSI S12.60
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LEED Rating Systems There are different LEED Rating systems for different types of buildings

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Who Creates LEED Rating Systems? LEED is a consensus based rating system that is organized by the US Green Building Council, a non-profit organization with members from all of the building industry including members from the design, construction, and owner/developer industries.

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Four Levels of LEED Certification

LEED Certified: 40-49 points LEED Silver: 50-59 points LEED Gold: 60-79 points LEED Platinum: > 80 points
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LEED Prerequisites and Points To get any certification, a building must meet all the prerequisites of the rating system and achieve at least 40 points Prerequisites are minimum building standards and they basically ensure that the building is not bad
The prerequisites are often found as part of the local building code so meeting them is already a requirement to build

Points are awarded for enhanced performance in many areas including construction, material use, energy use, and indoor environmental quality.
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What Things Go Into a LEED Rating? LEED prereqs and points are broken down into 5 main areas with differing levels of importance Additional areas for points are design innovation and regional priority

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Overview of the LEED 2009 NC Rating System The following slides show the categories, list the prerequisites and available design points for one rating system, LEED 2009 for New Construction and Major Renovation (LEED NC 2009) With Innovation and Design and Regional Priority credits there are up to 110 points available.
There are only 100 points available in the main rating system This is going to stay fixed in future updates, although the prereqs and details of the available points may change

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Sustainable Sites (SS)


Sustainable Sites Prereq 1 Credit 1 Credit 2 Credit 3 Credit 4.1 Credit 4.2 Credit 4.3 Credit 4.4 Credit 5.1 Credit 5.2 Credit 6.1 Credit 6.2 Credit 7.1 Credit 7.2 Credit 8 Construction Activity Pollution Prevention Site Selection Development Density and Community Connectivity Brownfield Redevelopment Alternative TransportationPublic Transportation Access Alternative TransportationBicycle Storage and Changing Rooms Alternative TransportationLow-Emitting and Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Alternative TransportationParking Capacity Site DevelopmentProtect or Restore Habitat Site DevelopmentMaximize Open Space Stormwater DesignQuantity Control Stormwater DesignQuality Control Heat Island EffectNon-roof Heat Island EffectRoof Light Pollution Reduction Possible Points: 26

1 5 1 6 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

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Water Efficiency (WE)


Water Efficiency Prereq 1 Credit 1 Water Use Reduction20% Reduction Water Efficient Landscaping Reduce by 50% No Potable Water Use or Irrigation Innovative Wastewater Technologies Water Use Reduction Reduce by 30% Reduce by 35% Reduce by 40% 2 to 4 2 4 2 2 to 4 2 3 4 Possible Points: 10

Credit 2 Credit 3

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Energy and Atmosphere (EA)

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Materials and Resources (MR)


Materials and Resources Prereq 1 Credit 1.1 Possible Points: 14 1 1 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 1
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Storage and Collection of Recyclables Building ReuseMaintain Existing Walls, Floors, and Roof Reuse 55% Reuse 95% Building ReuseMaintain 50% of Interior Non-Structural Elements Construction Waste Management 50% Recycled or Salvaged 75% Recycled or Salvaged

to 3

Credit 1.2 Credit 2

to 2

Credit 3

Materials Reuse Reuse 5% Reuse 10%

to 2

Credit 4 Credit 5 Credit 6 Credit 7

Recycled Content 20% of Content Regional Materials 20% of Materials Rapidly Renewable Materials Certified Wood

to 2 to 2

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Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)


Indoor Environmental Quality Prereq 1 Prereq 2 Credit 1 Credit 2 Credit 3.1 Credit 3.2 Credit 4.1 Credit 4.2 Credit 4.3 Credit 4.4 Credit 5 Credit 6.1 Credit 6.2 Credit 7.1 Credit 7.2 Credit 8.1 Credit 8.2 Possible Points: 15

Minimum Indoor Air Quality Performance Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control Outdoor Air Delivery Monitoring Increased Ventilation Construction IAQ Management PlanDuring Construction Construction IAQ Management PlanBefore Occupancy Low-Emitting MaterialsAdhesives and Sealants Low-Emitting MaterialsPaints and Coatings Low-Emitting MaterialsFlooring Systems Low-Emitting MaterialsComposite Wood and Agrifiber Products Indoor Chemical and Pollutant Source Control Controllability of SystemsLighting Controllability of SystemsThermal Comfort Thermal ComfortDesign Thermal ComfortVerification Daylight and ViewsDaylight Daylight and ViewsViews

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
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Innovation and Design (ID) and Regional Priority


Innovation and Design Process Credit Credit Credit Credit Credit Credit 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 2 Innovation in Design: Specific Innovation in Design: Specific Innovation in Design: Specific Innovation in Design: Specific Innovation in Design: Specific LEED Accredited Professional Title Title Title Title Title Possible Points: 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 Possible Points: 4 Specific Specific Specific Specific Credit Credit Credit Credit 1 1 1 1

Regional Priority Credits Credit Credit Credit Credit 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Regional Priority: Regional Priority: Regional Priority: Regional Priority:

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LEED Prerequisite and Points in More Detail


Lets look at a prerequisite and a point so you can see a little more about what must be done. Each prereq and point has several sections: Intent:
This explains why it is in LEED

Requirements:
This explains what has to be done

Potential Technologies and Strategies:


This gives some brief ideas of how to achieve the prereq or point

Required Documentation (In the Full Reference Guide Only):


This explains what you have to submit

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From the LEED 2009 NC Rating System PDF

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From the LEED 2009 NC Rating System PDF

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Important LEED Documents LEED Rating Systems


PDF Documents that give an overview of all the prereq and points. Does not explain required documentation or required submittals. Free download from USGBC

LEED Checklist
Excel spreadsheet that lists the prereq and points useful for double checking your design, Free download from USGBC

LEED Reference Guide


PDF or print book that explains the rating system in details, includes references and explains required documentation and submittals. Must be bought from USGBC
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References and Resources


US Energy Information Administration. 2010. Annual Energy Review 2009. http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/annual/. US Energy Information Administration. 2011. Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2009. http://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/ghg_report/. USGBC. 2011. Building Impacts - Why Build Green? https://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=4317.

USGBC. 2011. LEED 2009 For New Construction and Major Renovations. http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=8868.
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Part II: Acoustics of Green Buildings Conflicts and Synergies

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What is Architectural Acoustics Architectural acoustics is the study of sound in buildings and the design of buildings for proper acoustics including
Control of sound transmission throughout building Maintaining conditions for good speech intelligibility Maintaining sound isolation for speech privacy Enhancing the acoustic signal in performance spaces

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Reverberation
Reverberation is the bouncing sound in a room from the room surfaces
We characterize by the Reverberation Time, RT, the amount of time it takes the sound energy to decay from absorption by 60 dB

The shorter the reverberation time, the less reverberation and the easier it is to understand speech.
Most rooms should have reverberation times well under 1 second to be good for speech

High reverberation tends to mask sound reducing speech intelligibility


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Sound Isolation Sound isolation is the ability to block sound transmission from one area to another Sound isolation capability depends upon the mass and construction details of a partition or fenestration
We often characterize sound isolation by a single number called the sound transmission class or STC
The higher STC, the better the isolator Measured with ASTM Standards

STC > 50 is desired for high sound isolation


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Speech Intelligibility
Speech Intelligibility is the ability to hear and understand a conversation
The higher the speech intelligibility, the more a conversation is understood

Speech intelligibility is related to the sound power and directivity of the speaker, the background noise level at the listener, the attenuation between speaker
Sentence understanding of 90-95% is usually desired Speech Intelligibility is objectively measured with the Speech Intelligibility Index ( ANSI S3.5) or the Speech Transmission Index (IEC 60268-16)

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Speech Privacy
Speech Privacy is the inability to understand someone else's speech
Its basically the opposite of speech intelligibility This is important for legal and security issues as well as annoyance

Like Speech Intelligibility, Speech Privacy is related to sound power, background noise level, attenuation, and listener language skills
Speech privacy is measured by the Privacy Index (ASTM 1130) in open offices and the Speech Privacy Class (ASTM 2638) in closed offices Good Speech Privacy has a PI > 95% or SPC > 80

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Office Acoustics

The acoustics of a room in an office are largely defined by


the overall background noise level the speech intelligibility between co-workers who are working together speech privacy between workers who are not working together

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What affects Office Acoustics?


The noise generated by building systems and people The sound absorption of the rooms surfaces
Low sound absorption means high reverberation Workstation-to-workstation reflections mean reduced speech privacy

The sound isolation capabilities of walls/roofs/windows and partitions


Poor sound isolation means increased background noise and reduced speech privacy

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How Do Buildings Affect Occupants? Poor building designs can cause or exacerbate:
hidden sick days higher absenteeism high stress levels high blood pressure respiratory ailments allergies, asthma

These all result in reduced productivity and increased health insurance costs
Note: A 1% decrease in productivity (about 5 minutes per day) equals $600-700 per employee per year!
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Where Does Acoustics Fit In? Acoustics is an important part of employee comfort and well-being it is a significant portion of Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Poor acoustics will
Inhibit Communication Create Vocal Strain Limit Attention Span

These problems lead to


Increased Stress Levels Higher Absenteeism Decreased Productivity
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Acoustics in Green Building Standards


The new ASHRAE 189.1 has some acoustics AIA Guidelines for Healthcare Facility Design (which is quite Green) has some acoustics LEED for Schools
LEED for Schools requirements are a reduced version of the ANSI S12.60 Classroom Acoustics Standard

LEED for Healthcare will have a little acoustics


LEED for Healthcare requirements are a reduced version of the acoustics in AIA Guidelines

The most popular LEED rating systems (NC and EB/OM) have no acoustics whatsoever (yet)
As a result, design teams have no incentive (from the rating system) to design for good acoustics or even consider them within the design phase

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Are Green Buildings Really Better Buildings?


To evaluate if green buildings really are better we can: Look at resource use to see if it is reduced
Most green buildings really do have reduced energy and water use. A few do not perform as well as expected.

Look at surveys of occupants to see if they find that the indoor environmental quality is improved
We call these surveys of the occupants after they have used the building, Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) surveys
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Results of the UC Berkeley POE Surveys


Berkeley Post Occupancy Survey Results
Acoustics

Thermal Comfort Air Quality


Lighting Cleaning/Maintenance

Office Layout Overall Workspace


Overall Building

-0.5 LEED/Green

0 0.5 New Non-Green

1 1.5 All Buildings

Over 400 total buildings and thousands of respondents in the survey


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Acoustics Survey Results are Poor


Berkeley Post Occupancy Survey Results
Acoustics Thermal Comfort -0.4
LEED/Green

-0.2

0.2
All Buildings

0.4

New Non-Green

Acoustics is the only category where the performance is worse in new green buildings compared to nongreen buildings and it is the category with the lowest ratings in all buildings. In short green buildings have worse acoustics
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Acoustics Complaints

Obvious problem: Poor speech privacy and sound isolation

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Office Noise Sound Examples Acoustically Good Open Office


Absorptive ceiling and floors cubicles with 5 6 ft absorptive walls

Typical Green Office


Hard walls, floors and ceilings Short or no cubicles

Simple Private Office


Thin walls Thin, unsealed, but closed door
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Causes of Poor Green Building Acoustics Let us examine some of the causes of poor acoustics: Natural Ventilation Daylighting Radiant Heating and Cooling Exposed Thermal Mass Lightweight Steel Frames

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Natural Ventilation Natural ventilation uses indoor/outdoor pressure differences to drive air flow through holes in walls and open windows
Reduces the energy use to move air in ducts Can provide higher quality air to occupants

This type of system results in: Reduced HVAC noise


This can be good but sometimes it is too quiet

Poor sound isolation


Outside to Inside Room to Room Cubicle to Cubicle
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Daylighting and Passive Solar


Green buildings use a lot more sunlight for illumination (daylighting) and passive solar heating. More sunlight means more windows and skylights
Some even use glass for internal walls to allow more interior sunlight penetration

The result of all this is: Reduced indoor/outdoor sound isolation Reduced interior sound isolation More acoustically reflective surfaces on room walls and ceilings Less surface area available for sound absorptive treatments
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Radiant Heating/Cooling
Radiant Heating and Cooling is being used more for improved energy efficiency and improved thermal comfort. This results in: More exposed metal and concrete which are sound reflective surfaces This results in higher reverberant sound levels and high reflection of direct sound
Increased background noise in general from high reverberation Decreased speech privacy from direct reflections
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Thermal Mass More Thermal Mass is being used in design


Thermal mass is a high heat capacity material like CMU block or concrete

Use of thermal mass results in


Reduced inside thermal variation Time delay in peak loads Reduce overall energy costs

Using thermal mass requires direct heat exchange with room


This means we cannot cover surfaces with typical sound absorbing materials
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Use of Sustainable Materials Green buildings tend to use more sustainably farmed wood, metal (recycled and recyclable), stone, and concrete than conventional buildings. This means Reduced use of acoustic ceiling tile Reduced use of acoustic absorptive panels Reduced use of carpeting
Note: acoustic tiles, panels, and carpeting all are being made in more sustainable ways by some firms so the trend away from them might be changing.
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Lightweight Steel Frame Design If thermal mass systems are not used, buildings are often being designed with lighter weight, welded steel frames and much thinner walls and floors. This results in
Reduced Airborne Sound Isolation Reduced damping of structure borne sound Increased coupling of vibration between structural members Decreased isolation to impact and vibration excitation.

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Conflicts with Natural Ventilation and Daylight There is no simple way to provide sound isolation if partitions need to be reduced or eliminated for natural ventilation and daylighting
Sound masking, the generation of background noise to cover up other noise, can help provide cubicle-to-cubicle sound isolation but only with an increase in the overall noise level

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Conflicts with Natural Ventilation and Daylight There are no magic bullets to provide good sound isolation with large amounts of glass.
High sound isolation windows are available, but are expensive and their sound isolation is still worse than most opaque wall constructions Clear and translucent sound absorbing materials are available but are still extremely expensive

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Synergies
Careful construction to avoid thermal bridging and air infiltration usually results in improved outdoor-indoor sound isolation Use of high mass construction (concrete, filled CMU) in walls and floors can provide better sound isolation opportunities
Must be careful to install high acoustic absorbing materials where they are acceptable to ensure reverberation is controlled

Reduced use of forced air HVAC mean less HVAC generated noise and vibration
May need to install noise masking systems to provide speech privacy
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Synergies Green Roofs can provide improved sound isolation


Green roofs are being used to reduce urban heat islands, reduce heating and cooling load, increase roof membrane lifetimes, improve local air quality, reduce roof water runoff, and roof clean water runoff
Studies show that the increased mass and absorbing properties of green roofs can increase sound isolation of roofs by 3-15 dB
The transmission loss difference between the green/pink and blue curves is from the green roof
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Opportunities The use of coordinated and integrated design teams can take advantage of synergies and try to minimize conflicts early in design.
Owners, architects, and building systems designers frequently meet together in design charrettes early in the design phase
The old school methods with discipline separated design must be abandoned in green buildings to ensure energy use is minimized

For this to be able to provide improved acoustics someone on the design team needs to have training in acoustics!
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Opportunities Post-occupancy evaluations can be used to find and document acoustic complaints of workers even if upper management is not aware of problems
Market for sustainable acoustic products
Make traditional acoustic treatments more sustainable Transparent Acoustic Absorbers
Available but very high cost now

Absorbing Radiative Heat Exchangers


None commercially available but the idea is sound (pun intended)
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Designer Needs Need to get some acoustics into the criteria for green building rating systems
This is slowly starting to happen, in part because of advocacy of ASA members like Dan Bruck, Alexis Kurtz, Charles Salter, Dave Lubman, David Sykes, Brandon Tinianov, and others

Need to educate architects and engineers on the need to consider acoustics in the design, even if the rating system does not
Make them aware of the implications of poor acoustics (unhappy and unproductive applicants) Make them understand that some things cannot always be fixed afterward
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Research Needs More human performance studies


We need to be able to determine which environmental components have the greatest effect on environmental acceptability, productivity, and human performance so we can prioritize design

New Materials and Treatments


Affordable transparent sound absorbers Sound absorbing radiative heat exchangers Noise control for natural ventilation Better acoustic models for green roofs
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Summary Green Buildings usually have worse acoustical performance than conventional because:
Rating systems do not incentivize good acoustics. We need to change that Green building designs tend to remove sound absorbing materials for daylighting, radiative heating and cooling, and exposed thermal mass Green building designs tend to reduce isolating construction for daylighting and natural ventilation.

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Summary Green buildings can provide some good opportunities for improved acoustic performance through:
Coordinated, integrated design teams High mass construction provides opportunity for improved sound isolation Green Roofs provide better sound isolation New markets for sustainable acoustical materials

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Common Standards Used in Office Acoustics


ANSI S3.5-1997: Methods for the Calculation of the Speech Intelligibility Index ASTM E90-04, Standard Test Method for Laboratory Measurement of Airborne Sound Transmission Loss of Building Partitions and Elements. ASTM E336-05, Standard Test Method for Measurement of Airborne Sound Attenuation between Rooms in Buildings. ASTM E413-04: Classification for Rating Sound Insulation. ASTM E1130-08: Objective Measurement of Speech Privacy in Open Plan Spaces Using Articulation Index. ASTM E2368-10: Standard Test Method for Objective Measurement of the Speech Privacy Provided by a Closed Room IEC 60268-16: Sound system equipment Part 16: Objective rating of speech intelligibility by speech transmission index. ISO 3382:1997 Acoustics -- Measurement of the reverberation time of rooms with reference to other acoustical parameters.

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Green Building Acoustics Resources and References


Center for the Built Environment: Occupant Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Survey. http://www.cbe.berkeley.edu/research/survey.htm Muehleisen, R. T. (2010). "Acoustics of Green Buildings," in InformeDesign Implications (InformeDesign), pp. 1-7 http://www.informedesign.umn.edu/_news/jan_v08.pdf. Field, C. (2008). "Acoustical design in green buildings," ASHRAE Journal 50, 60-70. Muehleisen, R. T. (2009). "Review of the Implementation and Recent Changes of Several Acoustic Criteria Used in United States Schools," in Inter-Noise 2009 (Institute of Noise Control Engineers, Ottawa, CA). Hodgson, M. (2009). "Occupant Satisfaction with the Acoustical Environment," in PLEA2009 26th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture (Quebec City, CA). Hodgson, M., Khaleghi, A., Richter, M., and Razavi, Z. (2009). "Design and evaluation of noiseisolation measures for the natural-ventilation openings in a `green' building," Noise Control Engineering Journal 57, 493-506. Abbaszadeh, S., Zagreus, L., Lehrer, D., and Huizenga, C. (2006). "Occupant satisfaction with indoor environmental quality in green buildings," in Proceedings of Healthy Buildings 2006, Lisbon, Vol III (International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate), pp. 365-370.

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