APPENDIX B – ACOUSTIC REPORT

Phase 3: Final Design/ Working Drawings

1.0 Acoustics External Wall Minimum STC/RW of External

Wall Requirement
1.0 PROJECT OVERVIEW
Solid Wall 50dB
1.1 Project Description

South Sabah Al-Ahmad City is located about 90 km South of Kuwait City, with total area of 61.5 Glazing Area Minimum STC/RW of Glazing Acoustic Seals
km². The city is comprised of 11 neighborhoods, public areas, commercial areas, sports areas, Assembly*
entertainment areas, industrial areas, other investment areas. Each residential neighborhood
includes a center which is connected to the remaining residential blocks by effectively designed External Glazing 35dB Yes
pedestrian walkways linking all public buildings and residential plots. Each neighborhood center
has a site area of approximately 20 Hectares. The Neighborhood Center components are as
follow: 1.3 Internal Partitions Sound Insulation Performance

1. Supermarket and Retails Buildings This section presents acoustic recommendations for the internal walls/partitions to achieve the
2. Society Development Center Building required airborne sound insulation performance to maintain acoustic privacy. This includes but
3. Social Unit Building not limited to the proper filling of joints between blocks/panels, back filling with mortar any
4. Citizen Service Building chasing of walls and ceiling of wall junctions, acoustic sealing glazed panels/mullions. Unless
5. Police Station Building stated otherwise all acoustically rated walls shall be installed slab-to-slab and sealed at the head
and base.
6. Municipality Building
7. Masjid, Ablution Building, Imam and Caller Accommodation
8. Post Office Area/ Space Airborne Sound lnsulation performance
9. Main Health Centre and Ambulance Centre requirement, Rw/STC (dB)
10. Trade Control and Consumer Protection Center Building (MOCI)
11. Library Building Lobbies 40-45
12. Children Club Building Auditorium ≤ 60
13. Gas Branch Building
Pre-function areas, Multipurpose
50
rooms, Training rooms

1.2 External acoustic Treatment Closed Office spaces 45

Acoustic recommendations have been provided for the external façade to control the external Open plan office spaces 40 – 45
noise intrusion and to achieve the internal noise level requirements.
Meeting rooms 45 – 50
Any windows not specified in the table below may be constructed using standard glazing based
on other requirements such as structural and thermal. Storerooms & BOH areas 45 – 50
The glazing thicknesses recommended are those needed to satisfy acoustic requirements and do
not take into account other requirements such as thermal, structural, safety or other considerations. Corridor 40 – 45
These additional considerations may require the glazing thickness to be increased beyond the
acoustic requirement. Prayer Rooms 40 – 45

In addition to complying with the minimum scheduled glazing thickness, the STC rating of the Toilets/ Pantry 40 – 45
glazing fitted into openable frames and fixed into the building opening should not be lower than
MEP Rooms (Mechanical Rooms) 55
the values listed in Table below. Where nominated, this will require the use of acoustic seals around
the full perimeter of openable frames and the frame will need to be sealed into the building Generator/ ETS Room 55 - 60
opening using a flexible sealant. Any penetration through the external walls, roof and through any
glazing need to be acoustically sealed with fire/acoustic sealant.

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Phase 3: Final Design/ Working Drawings

Required Acoustic AAC Block Wall
Performance Rw Construction
40dB 150mm AAC block with
min. density 650kg/m3
with 20mm plaster
render on both sides.
50dB 200mm AAC block with
min. density 650kg/m3
with
20mm plaster render on
both sides
Solid Block wall For the floors separating the noise sensitive spaces and to achieve the required impact sound
Construction insulation performance as per below,
• Carpeted floor finish: For the areas where the carpet floor finish is proposed is found to
be acoustically acceptable.
• Hard floor finish: It is understood that the construction of the floor slabs is generally 300
mm thick reinforced concrete. Such constructions provide considerable mass and should
be capable of achieving the airborne sound insulation requirements without additional
acoustic treatment. Highly sensitive spaces below such floors may require an acoustic
underlay or soft floor finish to reduce impact noise. However, typical spaces should not
require such acoustic treatment.

60dB • 20mm Plaster (min.

density 10 kg/m2)
• 150mm Solid Block
• Air Cavity with 50mm
acoustical insulation
•150mm Solid Block
•20mm Plaster (min.
density
10 kg/m2)

1.4 Glazed Partitions

The sound insulation requirements for glazed partitions/elements can be achieved by the
following constructions:

• STC 40 dB – 12.8 mm laminated glass; and

• STC 45 dB – 12 mm glass / air gap / 12.8 mm laminated glass.

• MEP Rooms at roof floor finish: For the areas where the floor finish is proposed is found
The flanking performance should also be considered for glazed partitions. to be acoustically acceptable by adding 8mm Rubber underlay between concrete screed
& structural slab as shown in the above detail.
Flanking Sound Transmission

According to BS 12354 Part 1, Building acoustics – Estimation of acoustic performance of buildings

from the performance of elements – Part 1 : airborne sound insulation between rooms, flanking
transmission is the transmission of sound energy from a source room to a receiving room via
structural (vibrational) paths in the construction mainly, e.g. walls, floors, ceilings.

According to BS 12354, the flanking normalized difference should be:

• Dn,f,w ≥ DnT,w + 5 dB

Moreover, the flanking path via the slab edge must not degrade the performance of floors and
walls.

1.5 Floor Acoustic Recommendations

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Phase 3: Final Design/ Working Drawings

1.6 Operable Wall

There is an operable wall between the Public Hall in the Post Office building. Acoustically, operable
walls correctly installed as per manufacturer’s requirements will achieve an acoustic sound
insulation performance of FSTC/R’W 40-42 dB at best (equivalent laboratory acoustic performance
will be STC/RW 45-47dB.

1.7 Doors

As a minimum the door should have the following acoustic seals

 Head +Jamb seal and Meeting stile
 Threshold seals
 Perimeter seal
 Threshold Plates

Permanently flexible mastic sealant should be used to seal any gaps between door frames and the
surrounding building elements, to ensure that the overall sound insulation performance is not
degraded.

Door sets should be designed such that airgaps between the door blank and frame are closed.
This can be achieved by using stops on the door frame.

Seal orientation ensuring compressive mating, including on the hinge edge as shown in Figure
below should be used to reduce airborne and impact noise due to closing of the doors.

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Phase 3: Final Design/ Working Drawings

1.8 Internal Noise due to HVAC Services 1.10 Typical HVAC Plant acoustic control measures

The HVAC system must be designed to operate quietly, and in addition, sound attenuators, The Mechanical plant equipment in noise sensitive areas shall be treated as below:
silencers, acoustic lining, insulation panels, vibration isolators, etc., shall be provided where
necessary to achieve the required sound and noise reduction in the air-conditioned space.  Use sheet metal ductwork that is lined and of sufficient area to reduce the velocity through
the duct
In general, noise rating room criteria (RCs) shall not exceed the values given in below Table  Wrap all machines that have inherently high sound power levels that are located close to
obtained from MEW R7-2010. areas of low noise requirements
 Employ acoustic barriers or locate noisy machinery away from noise sensitive areas
Room  Use double chevron type louvres where practical and possible
Room Type
Criterion (RC)  Use acoustic attenuators where required. Attenuators should be used for all areas where
General office 40 privacy is important in order to reduce crosstalk.
Conference room 35  Use internal duct lining and external duct lagging
Teleconference room 25  Treat all penetrations as a likely source of noise and treat accordingly.
Corridor & lobby 45  Allow for branch and take-off ducts to have suitable size and length to reduce flow generated
Individual room/suite 35 noise
Meeting/banquet area 35  Use acoustic flexible ducts where practical
Private room in hospital 35  Avoid back-to-back elements such as electrical sockets
Operating room 35  Avoid cutting holes in acoustic rated walls and elements
Ward 40  Allow for air space around the ducts in risers
Auditorium 35  Fit lining in risers to reduce reverberant noise build-up
Mosque 35
Library 40 1.11 Indoor Unit / Fan Coil Units
Cafeteria 45
For each FCU considered for this project, the sound power data of the unit based on test reports
Gymnasium 50
from an independent laboratory must be submitted to the engineer for review.

Vibration isolate fan coil units as specified. Where the recommended static deflection cannot be
Sound measurements shall be made at a 1-m distance from the grill or diffuser within the area achieved with rubber mount or hangers, install spring isolators with a series rubber element.
served using an approved sound level meter.
In 40 dBA and quieter spaces, install sheet metal ducts with min. 25mm internal acoustic lining full
1.9 The Maximum Permissible Noise Levels in the Outdoor Building length. The supply duct and return duct shall incorporate the required acoustic lining to meet the
acoustic requirements of the area it serves. FCU’s located at noise sensitive spaces shall consist of
Type of Area Exposed Equalized Noise Limit (Leq)(dBA) Over Different Time Periods
a double skinned casing or alternatively the casing shall be wrapped with a mass loaded vinyl
to Noise
Daytime Evening Time Nighttime barrier to mitigate case radiated noise levels.

Residential Areas 55 55 50 The sound power levels due to supply and return air grills and diffusers shall be below maximum
indoor ambient noise levels.
Urban Residential 62 60 55
Areas 1.12 VAV units

Urban Residential 65 65 55 VAV units and diffusers are to be selected in order to meet the specified room noise criteria. While
Areas with some selecting VAV units, the maximum indoor ambient noise levels shall not exceed the room criteria.
Commercial Activities The case radiated noise of the selected VAV unit shall not exceed the internal noise criteria of the
and Workshops space. The VAV unit shall be selected below maximum indoor ambient noise levels.

Industrial and 70 70 65
Commercial Areas

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Phase 3: Final Design/ Working Drawings

1.13 Sound Insulation of HVAC Ducts and Pipes

When ducts and pipes serving one space penetrate walls or slabs and pass-through noise-sensitive
areas there is a risk of causing noise disturbance that affect the occupants of these noise-sensitive
areas. These services must be enclosed by a construction that will help to maintain appropriate
acoustic separation.

It is common practice to use treatments such as flexible pipe lagging as shown in figure below
instead of substantial wall build-ups to achieve suitable noise reduction.

Ducts transmit fan noise as well as regenerated noise due the turbulence from high-speed airflow.
Duct noise emits from duct terminals and can also radiate through duct walls. Brace or stiffen
ductwork as per the guidelines and additional as required to prevent drumming or acoustic
resonances. Install only sheet metal ducts in main shafts and NR 35 or quieter areas.

It is recommended that ductwork should be fabricated and installed to minimize risk of turbulence.
1.14 HVAC Ductwork This can be achieved by incorporating smooth transitions and installing only “out-of-flow” type fire
Duct shall be designed to conform to overall design sound level of area it serves and below dampers
specified velocity limits obtained from ASHRAE handbook. Ducts should be routed such that they do not interfere with the constructability of slab-to-slab
acoustic walls. Where ducts cross acoustic walls, maintain the wall’s sound insulation performance
with duct attenuation.

In plant rooms and any other areas where there is a risk of duct break-in or breakout, particularly
plant room ductwork on the quiet side of attenuators (depicted in Figure below), upgrade the
sound insulation of duct walls with one or more of the following treatments:

 High Transmission Loss (HTL) ducts constructed of 1.5mm sheet metal with a viscoelastic
damping compound coating
 Encasement of ducts with 50 mm glass fiber insulation blanket (min. 32 kg/m³ density) and
12.5 mm fire-rated plasterboard, with no rigid contact between the duct and the plasterboard
casing. Or
 Acoustic lagging (e.g. 25 mm glass fiber insulation or acoustic foam and a mass-loaded limp
barrier of min. 5 kg/m² surface mass), fully taped with a min. 50 mm overlap joint and airtight
taping of any breaks and gaps around duct mounts and/or supports
 Note: Where the building’s main ducts pass through noise-sensitive areas, a combination of
these treatments plus vibration isolation of the ductwork and an acoustic barrier ceiling is
necessary.

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Phase 3: Final Design/ Working Drawings

A suitable construction for the isolation of pumps and associated system is shown in figure below.
All systems are to be isolated either with resilient mounts/floating floor or flexible joints connected
to external pipework. If the vibration produced by the selected equipment exceeds the limits
specified, floating floor must be used to minimize the transfer of vibration to the structural slab
below.

The duct sizing should account for acoustic duct lining thickness such that the dimensions indicate
the free internal airway. Where space to install branch and run-out ducts is limited and where duct
shape introduces the risk of unevenly distributed flow across the duct-cross section, reduce air
speeds accordingly. Do not penetrate Acoustic walls (and other full-height walls) with flexible duct.
Install sheet metal branch ducts up to the room served, with flexible ducts serving only as a final
run-out connecting branch ducts to diffusers within the room (ceiling).

1.15 Vibration Criteria for HVAC equipment

Any oscillating movement can be thought of as vibration, however, movement at frequency higher
than 20 Hz can be audible and is therefore referred to as structure-borne sound. Acceptable values
of human exposure to vibration depend on human activity and the characteristics of the vibration.
They are further influenced by individual attitudes, expectations and perceptibility.

The AHU/FAHU require following construction to mitigate the transfer of noise and vibration to
areas below via floor.

The noise level of the pump predicted is based on empirical data and similar products. The octave
band data of the pump equipment should be submitted for review to site engineer. If the selected
equipment produces more than 60 dBA, additional acoustic treatment and noise mitigation
strategies may be needed to be implemented.

1.16 References
 MEW.R-7 2010
 EPA (Environmental Protection Authority Kuwait)
 ASHRAE
 CIBSE

For all continuously operating ventilation fans (excluding fire-mode fans), select packaged
backward curved centrifugal fans, mixed-flow fans or EC plug fans. Select for minimum in-duct
sound power levels in the 63Hz, 125 Hz and 250 Hz octave bands. All rotating equipment must be
balanced as per ASHRAE and CIBSE guide B4 requirements. Wherever rubber isolators are
specified, spring isolators with equivalent or greater static deflection may be substituted. All spring
vibration isolators must incorporate a rubber element in series with the spring to snub high
frequency noise. Isolator hold-down bolts must incorporate rubber grommets or similar such that
they do not bridge the rubber element.