11 Things You Can Do, Without Math, To Avoid Most Acoustics Complaints

Course Description

Architects make excellent acousticians because they have practice thinking in three dimensions. This course demystifies basic acoustics and enables acoustically-considered spaces through 11 acoustics-driven design decisions you can make now to avoid complaints and give meaning to your projects. This course emphasizes the significant impact of noisy mechanical systems and poor program adjacencies in various environments, from schools to workplaces, and provides practical solutions to reduce noise from common sources. The instructor also shares research findings on the correlation between mechanical system noise and test scores in schools, highlighting the importance of acoustic considerations in architectural design.

Learning Objectives

• Identify likely acoustic problems in a building plan due to space planning or adjacencies to eliminate common problems while in schematic design and design development.

• Identify sources of mechanical noise

• Investigate common sources of acoustic complaints

• Summarize critical early-design acoustic considerations