BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems

SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus

INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO

ACOUSTICS AND THE BASICS OF SOUND / SOUND THEORY

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WHAT IS ACOUSTICS?
- it is derived from the Greek word
akoustikos,
akouein,
akoustos
meaning:

- of or for hearing / pertaining to hearing,

- to hear,
- heard / audible

In the broad sense, we can define acoustics as the science of sound.

It is the branch of physics that deals with the production, control, transmission, reception, and effects
of sound.
If you are hearing sound, then you are interacting with acoustics.
It is a multidisciplinary field where many specializations cohere. It comprehends a numerous
profession.
Areas of Acoustics
Acoustics, the study of sound and vibration, addresses a great variety of issues. The areas of study
can be grouped in different ways, though most groupings are similar to the definition of technical
committees in the Acoustical Society of America (ASA). Using the ASA A approach as a starting
point, we have the following areas of acoustics: Acoustical Oceanography
• Animal Bioacoustics
• Architectural Acoustics
• Biomedical Acoustics
• Engineering Acoustics
• Musical Acoustics
• Noise
• Physical Acoustics
• Psychological and Physiological Acoustics
• Signal Processing in Acoustics
• Speech Communication
• Structural Acoustics and Vibration
• Underwater Acoustics
Acousticians include engineers, physicists, speech and hearing scientists, architects, biologists,
psychologists, linguists, mathematicians, oceanographers, computer scientists, and musicians.
There are many different fields of acoustics for study and practice as you can see in Lindsay’s
Wheel of Acoustics below.
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO

The “Wheel of Acoustics” was created by R. Bruce Lindsay for The Science of Acoustics, published in the
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
The wheel shows the fields of acoustics starting with the four broad fields of Earth Sciences, Engineering, Life Sciences,
and the Arts.
The outer circle lists the various broad disciplines one may study to prepare for a career in acoustics. The inner circle
lists the fields within acoustics to which many fields naturally lead
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO

WHAT IS ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS?

-- It is the scientific know-how to achieve a good sound within a space.

-- From Acoustical Society of America (ASA), Architectural acoustics compasses the following
areas of interest as applied to sound in and around buildings:

• Room finish treatments, surface shaping, volumes, and geometries

• Airborne and structureborne sound isolation and noise control
• Noise and vibration control of building systems
• Electroacoustic and media systems
• Perception and psychoacoustics

-- it is the science and engineering involved in getting a good sound within a building.
➢ Wallace Sabine took the first step towards applied architectural acoustics. He tested the modern scientific
methods of architectural acoustics in the Fogg Museum lecture room. He later applied the same principles to
the design of Symphony Hall, Boston.

-- It is a noise control of a building space to facilitate good communication functions and its effect on occupancy. The
structure’s building materials have an effect on the building’s distant hearing and acoustics.

In a project, we relate, incorporate, or apply architectural acoustics to

The Holy Trinity in Architecture
1. The Architectural Interior
2. The Building Mass
3. The Environment

UNDERSTANDING SOUND

Sound is a form of energy. It is created when matter vibrates. Vibrations make sound waves.

In physics, it is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission

medium such as a gas, liquid or solid
From a physiological point of view, without the human auditory system, there would be no such a
thing as sound in the world, but merely vibrations.
Sound is a lot like water. It doesn’t have a shape or form, so it molds itself to its surroundings and,
like water, can be absorbed by some materials and contained by others. This is why sound
absorbing and soundproofing materials can stop the transfer of sound within a space, or from one
space to another.
If sound consists of vibrational stimulus detected and interpreted by the human auditory system,
plenty of other vibrational stimulus are out of that range and thus they are not catalogued as sound.
Sound then is a very narrow concept, linked always to humans. Let us just think that the human
hearing range is 16 Hz – 19 kHz. But a cow’s hearing range is 23 Hz – 35 kHz, an elephant’s
hearing range is 17 Hz – 10.5 kHz, a dog’s hearing range is 64 Hz – 44 kHz, a little brown bat’s
hearing range is 10.3 kHz – 115 kHz and a beluga whale’s hearing range is 1 kHz – 123 kHz.
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO

For Jonathan Sterne the concept of sound is fully anthropocentric: “We treat sound as a natural phenomenon exterior to
people, but its very definition is anthropocentric.” Sound, under Sterne’s vision, is only a small element of the vibrating
world, since when addressing sound, we could perfectly well talk of a “larger physical phenomenon of vibration.” Sound is
defined by Sterne as “that class of vibrations perceived – and, in a more exact sense, sympathetically produced – by the
functioning ear when they travel through a medium that can convey changes in pressure (such as air).” Nevertheless,
when referring to the functioning ear, Sterne is, in fact, talking about the human auditory system. Sound is a human affair
only and in his opinion “human beings. reside at the center of any meaningful definition of sound. From a physiological
point of view, without the human auditory system, “there would be no such a thing as sound in the world, but merely
vibrations.” Sound is, then, a set of vibrations, interpreted by humans.
Sound is a physical wave, or a mechanical vibration, or simply a series of pressure variations in an
elastic medium.

- For airborne sound – the medium is air

- For structure-borne sound – the media are concrete, steel, wood, glass and a combination of all of these

To create sound that is audible to human ears, sound energy moves the molecules of the substance
through which it is travelling and creates sound waves that spread in a circular pattern like ripples in
a pond. As sound waves move further away from their source, their intensity naturally becomes less
intense.

Sound is an alteration in pressure (particle displacement in velocity) projected and propagated in an

elastic material.

For architects, sound is simply defined as an audible signal. It simply means that the science of
architectural acoustics is concerned with the building occupants, and sounds which he or she cannot
detect are generally nor our concern.

Sound is a form of energy. It is created when matter vibrates. Vibrations make sound waves.

- Put your hand on your throat, and say something now. Feel the vocal cords in your throat, vibrate
as you make a sound.
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO

The material that the sound travels through is what we call the “acoustic medium”, and without an
appropriate medium, sound cannot travel at all!

Sound needs a substance to travel through and travels by particles vibrating – which state of matter
does sound travel fastest through?

How sound travels? The speed at which sound travels from one place to another depends upon
the medium and how closely packed the molecules are in the matter. A medium is a substance that
allows sound waves to travel through it. Where there is no medium, no sound can be transmitted.
Of the three medium, solid, liquid and gas, sound waves travel the slowest through gases, faster
through liquids, and fastest through solids.

Sound is a vibration in an elastic medium; its production requires a source and a path; it travels to a
receiver (the human ear, usually).

Sound Waves in Air

The figure below represents a vibrating element such as a loudspeaker. It is emitting a
pure tone, that is, a simple vibration of one frequency. The outward movement of the diaphragm
causes a compression in the adjoining particles of air. When the diaphragm moves back the
compressed air expands and causes a compression in the air at the original center of compression.
This compression in turn disturbs the air in advance of it, and so on. A ’travelling wave’ is therefore
set up.
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO

When the fluctuating pressure waves impinge on the ear drum it, in turn vibrates and the process of
hearing begins. The air between source and listener does not move bodily. At any point along the
sound path the particles of air are merely moving from side to side of their original position. It is only
the sound wave that travels.

The air may in certain situations be moving bodily as in a ventilation duct; nevertheless, the sound
wave will move outwards from the source regardless of the direction of air movement. This is the
same for instances of explosion.

The sound wave shown above illustrates the changes in pressure along the path between source
and listener. The central horizontal line represents air at normal atmospheric pressure. The wave
form represents the increase and decrease of pressure due to the sound wave.

For sounds of average loudness this deviation is only about one millionth (10-6) of normal
atmospheric pressure.

Atmospheric pressure = 1.01325bar = approx. 1.0bar = 100,000Pa.

1millionth of 100,000Pa = 0.1Pa.

Wavelength
Units – metres
Symbol – l

This is the distance between any two repeating points on a sound wave.
In the previous diagram a wavelength would be between any two compression areas or
any two rarefaction areas.

Frequency
Units – Hertz (Hz)
Symbol - f

This is the number of cycles of vibration per second. The above figure shows two complete
wavelengths or cycles. If these two cycles pass in one second then the frequency would be 2 cycles
per second or 2 Hertz.

Amplitude
Units – metres
Symbol - λ

The amplitude of a sound wave is the height of the wave form. It is also the maximum displacement
for each air particle as it vibrates. The diagram below illustrates the difference between loud and soft
sounds.
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO

Velocity
Units – metres per second (m/s)
Symbol - v
The velocity is the distance moved by the sound wave per second in a fixed direction.
v=fxl

Where v = velocity (m/s)

f = frequency (Hz)
l = wavelength (m)

Approximate Speed of Sound in Common Materials

Sound waves are characterized by frequency and amplitude, the size of the waves. Low-frequency
waves produce low-pitched sounds (such as the rumbling sounds of distant thunder) and high-
frequency waves produce high-pitched sounds (such as a mouse squeak). Sounds audible to most
humans range from as low as 20 Hz to as high as 20,000 Hz in a young child (the upper range
especially decreases with age).

Loudness is measured in decibels (dB), a measure of the energy content or power of the waves
proportional to amplitude. The decibel scale begins at 0 for the lowest audible sound, and increases
logarithmically, meaning that a sound of 80 dB is not just twice as loud as a sound of 40 dB, but has
10,000 times more power! Sounds of 100 dB are so intense that they can severely damage the inner
ear, as many jack-hammer operators and rock stars have discovered.

The “NOISE SYSTEM” consists of the source, the path, and the receiver. The architect’s focus is on
the source and path.
• SOURCE -- can be made louder or more quiet
• PATH -- the path can be made to transmit more or less sound
• RECEIVER -- the listener assumed to have a pair of healthy young ears with a detection
range of 20 to 20,000 Hz
➢ A simple approach is needed to break the problem down into individual elements.
Modifying any or a combination of the three elements can provide noise control.
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO

SOUND’S THREE (3) PARTS

Sound Source.
This is the aural event, occurring at a certain location and a certain moment, that propagates the sound. Each such
event may be as small as the tap of a finger on a windowpane, or as large as the drone of late-afternoon traffic on an
urban expressway. A small sound radiates from a point source in spherical waves that diminish in loudness according to
the square of the distance between its origin and reception. But a large sound may have such great lateral dimensions
that its initial waves are mostly planar for some distance outward before they acquire a spherical character. Thus, to
borrow an analogy from illumination, a sound may have a point source (e.g. a car horn), a line source (e.g. a plucked
guitar string to someone listening a few feet away), or an area source (e.g. theater applause to a member of the
audience). Similarly as in illumination, if the ratio of a sound’s length of travel to the lateral length or width of its source is
more than about 6, it is a point source sound; if the ratio of its travel to the lateral length of its origin is less than about 6,
it is a line source sound; and if the ratio of its travel to both the lateral length and width of its origin is less than about 6, it
is an area source sound.

Each propagated sound also has a duration. It may be an impulse sound, a single isolated event such as a hammered
nail or a door slam, or it may be a steady-state sound, a continuous event such as the whir of a fan or hum of a
computer. Many steady-state sounds are aggregates of impulse sounds, an example being the closely spaced
phonemes of speech which together comprise conversation. A particular floor, wall, or ceiling construction that is
acoustically acceptable for steady-state sound may be undesirable for impulse sound.

Sound Path.
This is the journey, radiating outward in all directions, that a sound makes from its source to the receiver. If its path is
through air the sound is airborne; if through a solid it is solid-borne. An airborne sound grows steadily weaker as it
radiates from its source, but solid-borne sound often travels through a long thin mass, such as a steel beam, that
may preserve much of its loudness many yards away. A sound may also change from airborne to solid-borne and back
several times as it travels from source receiver —as when an off-balance HVAC blower pulley revolving at high speed
creates a vibration noise (airborne) that passes through the blower’s frame (solid-borne), resonates through the air
beneath the frame to the floor below (airborne), vibrates through the concrete floor (solid-borne), travels through the
airspace between the underside of the floor and the top of the suspended ceiling below (airborne), penetrates the
suspended ceiling (solid-borne), then radiates into the office below (air-borne) to annoy a person working at her desk.

Receiver.
This is the surface that absorbs the sound at some distance from its source. This surface may be the eardrum of an
human or other animal, the diaphragm of a microphone, a pickup on an electric guitar, or any number of other electronic
devices; but here we are primarily concerned with the eardrums of a human occupant. One’s access and receptivity to a
sound at the moment of perception greatly influences acoustic design. A receiver’s binaural hearing also allows accuracy
of sound detection in the horizontal direction of ±5 percent in the front half of one’s sphere of activity, while accuracy to
the rear is considerably less due to the frontally-oriented cupped shape of the outer ear lobes. Accuracy of sound
detection in the vertical plane is usually ±10 percent, depending on comparative amplification by one’s funnel-shaped
inner ears and spiral-shaped auditory canals.
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO

The sound we hear is the result of sound waves.

But what are sound waves?
What are their characteristics?
How do they work?

The five (5) main characteristics of sound waves include the following:
1. Wavelength
2. Amplitude
3. Frequency
4. Time Period
5. Velocity.

1, Wavelength
The most important characteristic of sound waves may be the wavelength. Sound consists
of a longitudinal wave that includes compressions and rarefactions as they travel through a
given medium. The distance that one wave travels before it repeats itself is the wavelength.
It is the combined length of a compression and the adjacent rarefaction, or the distance
between the centers of two consecutive rarefactions or compressions.

2. Amplitude
The amplitude is the size of a given wave. Think of it as sort of like the wave’s height as
opposed to its length. The amplitude is more accurately defined as the maximum
displacement of the particles the sound wave disturbs as it passes through a medium.

3. Frequency
The frequency refers to the number of sound waves a sound produces per second. A low-
frequency sound has fewer waves, while a high-frequency sound has more. Sound
frequency is measured in hertz (HZ) and is not dependent upon the medium the sound is
passing through.

4. Time Period
The time period is almost the opposite of the frequency. It is the time required to produce a
single complete wave, or cycle. Each vibration of the vibrating body producing the sound is
equal to a wave.

5. Velocity
The velocity of the wave, sometimes referred to as the speed, is the amount of distance in
meters per second that a wave travels in one second.
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO

WAVE PROPERTIES
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO

ACOUSTICAL TERMS WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO

THREE COMMON PROBLEMS IN ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS

1. Protecting outdoor or indoor spaces from environmental noise.
2. Controlling loud sound within enclosed spaces.
3. Reducing sound transmission between rooms (or from or to outdoors
BU 323 - BUILDING UTILITIES 3: Acoustics and Lighting Systems
SCHOOL : Pangasinan State University, Urdaneta City Campus
INSTRUCTOR : Architect ALDWIN M. CASTILLO

REASONS FOR KNOWING ABOUT SOUND

OUTDOORS INDOORS Room to Room

Select quiet site Design quiet spaces Design for isolation

Meet local codes Design for speech Acoustical privacy

Location on site Music performance Locate critical spaces

Define noise sources Multi-use spaces Detail construction

Design noise barriers Expandable spaces Design door systems

Locate sensitive spaces Athletic facilities Avoid cross talk

Design walls and windows Control mechanical noise Inspect construction

Sources:
o Architectural Acoustics Workbook by M. David Egan
o Master Handbook of Acoustics (5th Edition) by Everest and Pohlmann
o Sounds [That] Are Not Is There any Time Left? By Luz María Sánchez Cardona
o 2017-2023 International Commission for Acoustics
o Some notes on acoustics by Michael Carley
o Architectural Graphic Standards by Ramsey / Sleeper
o Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Building by
o Fundamentals of Acoustics Introductory Course on Multiphysics Modelling by Tomasz G. Zieli ́nski
o Architectural Acoustics, article by HL Architects in Durham North East UK in Architects Zone
o Visual Dictionary by Francis D. K. Ching
o Transmission of sound in different mediums in weebly.com
o Acoustics 101 for Architects: Terminologies and Concepts by Michael Fay