ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING AND ACOUSTICS
1. Transverse Waves
History of Acoustics
 Ancient Greece
 Pythagoras (Greek Philosopher) who established mathematics in Greek
culture in the 6th century BCE studied vibrating strings and musical
instruments
 He discovered that dividing the length of a vibrating string into simple
ratios produced consonant musical intervals
 Vitruvius was the first to write about it in his monumental book, De
Architektura (understanding and analysis of theater acoustics). It was the
beginning of architectural acoustics
 Early acoustical investigation were closely tied to musical acoustics
Architectural Acoustics
 Also known as Room Acoustics and Building Acoustics
 Science and engineering of achieving a good sound within a building and
is a branch if Acoustical Engineering
 Design of spaces, structures and mechanical/ electrical systems to meet
hearing needs
Sound and Vibration Theory
All acoustic situation have 3 common elements
1. Source – could be loud or quiet
2. Transmission Path – can transmit more or less sound/vibrations
3. Receiver- reception of sound may be influenced
Sound and Vibration
What is sound?
 A physical wave of a mechanical vibration or simply a series of pressure
variations in an elastic mediums
 A vibration in an elastic medium such as air, water, building materials and
earth
 Vibrations that travel through air or another medium and can be heard
when they reach a person’s or animal’s ear. These continuous vibrations
or pressure variations take the form of periodic compressions and
rarefactions that travel outward longitudinally from the source. It “bumps”
adjacent particles and imparts most of its motion and energy to them
(Newton’s Third Law of Motion)
Propagation of Sound
 Sound waves do not travel through a vacuum (space) but scientist argue
that you can still hear sound in space given certain conditions (particle
colliding)
 For sound to propagate or travel, you need a media or medium
possessing inertia and elasticity (these would affect wave speed)
 Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to any change in its motion.
Objects tendency to keep moving in a straight line at a constant linear
velocity or to keep still.
 First Law of Motion – an object either is at rest or moves at a constant
velocity, unless acted upon by an external force.
 Elasticity – tendency of solid materials to return to their original shape
after being deformed
 Sound has its origins in vibrating bodies
Velocity of Propagation
 Sound travels at different velocities or speeds depending on the medium
 In air 20C at sea level, sound velocity is at 344 m/s or 1,130 fps. That is
also approximately 1,236 kph (768 mph) or 1 kilometer in 3 seconds
 Sound speed also differs in different altitudes (altitude temperature). The
higher the altitude, the slower sound moves.
 Sound travels not only in air but also in other media
 Sound travels faster in solids, than they do in liquids and gases (elasticity
factor has a greater influence on the speed)
 Sound may travel fast at 16,000 ft/s along steel pipes and duct walls. It is
therefore important to block or isolate paths where sound energy can
travel through building materials (called structure-borne sound)
2 Types of Sound Waves and Vibrations
 Moving perpendicular to the displacement of the medium
 Displacement is up and down
 Also known as S Waves
 Water, light and radio waves are transverse
 Crest of Peak – point of the medium that exhibits the maximum amount
of positive or upward displacements from the rest position (equilibrium)
 Trough – point of the medium that exhibits the maximum amount of
negative or downward displacement from the rest position (equilibrium)
2. Longitudinal Waves
 Moving parallel to the direction the particles are moving
 A wave in which particles of the medium are displaced in a direction
parallel to the direction of energy transport
 Also known as P waves or Compression Waves
 Sound is longitudinal waves
 Compression – point on a medium which a longitudinal wave is travelling
at a maximum density
 Rarefaction – point on a medium which a longitudinal wave is travelling at
a minimum density
3 Major Characteristics of a Sound Wave
1. Frequency
 Number of complete vibrations or pulses of sound source per a
given unit of time usually 1 second
 Number of times the cycle of compression and rarefactions of air
makes in a given unit of time ( 1 second)
 Hertz – unit of frequency, named after Heinrich Hertz
 Commonly called the Pitch of Tone of the Sound
 1 Hertz = 1 cycle/second or 1 period/second or
1 vibration/second
T = 1/f where: T = time
1 = cycle period
F = frequency
 Cycle – complete up and down oscillation of the wave
 Oscillation – repetitive variation, back and forth movement in a regular
rhythm
Sound Frequencies
 Sub-audible – below 20 Hz
 Audible – 20 Hz to 20, 000 Hz (dependent on individuals and
environmental factors)
 Hearing sensitivity, esp. the upper frequency limit, diminishes with
increasing age even without adverse effects from the disease or noise.
This condition is called Presbycusis
 Human speaking voice has a range of approximately 100 Hz to 600 Hz.
Male voice is around 85 Hz to 180 Hz and female voice at 165 Hz to 255
Hz
Pure Tones
 Vibrations produced at a single frequency. This is achieved using a tuning
fork
 Symphonic music consists of numerous tones at different frequencies and
pressures
 A tone is composed of a fundamental frequency with multiples of the
fundamental frequencies called harmonics
 Musical sounds are composed of a fundamental frequency and integral
multiples of fundamental frequency of harmonics
 Most common sounds are complex combinations of frequencies
2. Wavelength
 The distance a sound wave travels during one cycle of vibration
(from crest to crest, trough to trough)
 Length of one complete cycle
 Measured in m, cm, and others like any length
 There is no special spot to measure a wavelength. Just make sure
you are back to the same height going in the same direction
  In longitudinal waves, the wavelength is measured as the distance
between the middle of two compressions or the middles of two
rarefactions/expansions
 Wavelength is designated as Lambda (  ) in formulas
 The relationship between wavelength, frequency and speed of sound
is expressed as:
 = v/f
where:  = wavelength
v or c = velocity of the wave or sound (fps or m/s)
- usually constant (air)
f = frequency of sound (Hz)
 Sounds with wavelength ranging from 12mm to 15mm can be heard
by humans
3. Amplitude
 Measure of the amount of energy in a sound wave
 Is a measure of how big the wave is
 Measured as the height from the equilibrium point to a crest or the
depth from the equilibrium point to a trough
 It takes more energy to make a bigger amplitude of a wave. The
bigger the wave, the more electrical energy you need
 Amplitude is usually referred to as “intensity” or “loudness”
Inverse Square Law
 Sound waves from a point source outdoors with no obstructions (called
Free-Field conditions) are virtually spherical and expand from the source.
A point source has physical dimensions of size that are far less than the
distance an observer is away from the source
 Power is a basic quantity of energy flow. Although both acoustical and
electric energies are measured in watts, they are both different forms of
energy and cause different response. For instance, 10W of electric energy
at an incandescent lamp produces a very dim light, whereas 10W of
acoustical energy at a loud speaker can produce an extremely loud
sound. Peak power for musical instruments can range from 0.05W for a
clarinet to 25W for a bass drum
 The intensity from a point source outdoors at a distance d away is the
sound power of the source divided by the total spherical area 4d2 of the
sound wave at the distance of the interest,
I = W/A or I = W/4d2
where: I = sound intensity (W/m2)
W or P =sound power (W)
d = distance from the sound (m)
A = area
 The Inverse Square Law for sound is:
I1 (d2)2
I2 (d1)2
where: I = sound intensity (W/m2)
d = distance from the sound (ft or m)
 If the distance measured is in feet, multiply the result by 10.76 because 1
m2 is equal to 10.76 ft2
Decibels
 Unit to express the pressure or the intensity level of the sound energy.
Sound level is always measured in decibels (dB) by sound level meters
 Ernst Weber and Gustav Fechner (19th century German scientists)
discovered that nearly all human sensations are proportional to the
logarithm of the intensity of the stimulus.
 In acoustics, the “bel” unit (in honor of Alexander Graham Bell) was first to
relate the intensity of sound to an intensity level corresponding to the
human sensation. Sound intensity level in “bels” equals the logarithm of
the intensity ratio I/I0 ; where I0 is the minimum sound intensity audible to
the human ear at 1,000 Hz
 Decibels (prefix deci indicates that logarithm is to be multiplied by 10) can
be found by the following formula:
where: IL = sound intensity level (dB)
I = sound intensity (W/m2)
I0 = reference sound intensity, 10-12 (W/m2) which
is the threshold of audibility or equivalence to
0 dB (constant)
 The human hearing range from the threshold of audibility at 0 dB to the
threshold of pain at 130 dB
 It is difficult to measure sound intensity directly. However sound intensity
is proportional to the square of sound pressure, which can be more easily
be measured by Sound Level Meters
 Sound Level Meters contain microphones which transform sound
pressure variations in air into corresponding electric signals
 In air under normal atmospheric conditions, sound intensity level and
sound pressure level are nearly identical
Common Sounds in Decibels
 Threshold of Feeling – a loud in which one ca hear and feel at the same
time
 Threshold of Hearing/Audibilty – sound becomes just audible or
recognizable (20 uPa or 2x10-5 Pa)
 Threshold of Pain – is the sound pressure level beyond which sound
becomes unbearable for a human listener. Threshold varies from 120 dB
(20Pa) to 140 dB (200Pa)
Noise Reduction with Distance
 Outdoors in the open and away from the obstructions, sound energy
from the Point sources drops off by 6 dB for each doubling of the
distance from the distance
 Sound energy from Line Sources (stream of automobiles or railroad cars)
drops off by 3 dB for each doubling of distance. This is because Line
Sources consist of successive point of sources which reinforce each other.
Thus the spread of sound energy is cylindrical not spherical.
 An Area Source, produce by several adjacent line sources (row of
cheering spectators at sports events) or a large radiating surfaces of
mechanical equipment, has little reduction of sound energy with distance
close to the source.
 With distance of b/ to c/ where b is the short dimension and c the long
dimension of an area source, source energy drops off by 3 dB for each
doubling of distance. Beyond distances of c/ the drop off will be 6 dB
for each doubling of distance outdoors.
Exponents
 105 or 1 x 105
 A positive exponents means we are multiplying at the base
54 = 1x5x5x5x5
 A negative exponent means we are dividing at the base
5-4 = 15555 or 1/54
 Sample problems:

Antilogarithms (Inverse Log)

 The antilogarithm of a quantity, such as antilog (x), is the number for
which the quantity x is the logarithm.
Example:

Logarithms
 Used to simplify the numbers since we deal with huge numbers. Always Example:
remember that log is an exponent, and by that, mathematical operations
involving them follow the same rules as those for exponents
 The first step to find the logarithm of a number is to express it as a digit
from 1 to 9 multiplied by 10 to a power
 Consists of two parts – the Characteristics, which is the power of 10 and
the Mantissa which is the decimal found in the log tables

Log2 8 = 3 (log form) 23 = 8 (exponential form)

Properties of Logarithm
1. log xy = log x + log y
2. log x / y = log x – log y
3. log xn = n log x
4. log 1 = 0n

Mantissa

Number Mantissa
1 0
2 0.3
3 0.48
4 0.6
5 0.7
6 0.78
7 0.85
8 0.9
9 0.95
 In solving logarithms when decimal point is shifted to the left by “n”
places, the number is to be multiplied by 10 n , when the decimal is shifted
to the right by “n” places, the number is to be divided by 10n

 Numbers ending with 0.5 and greater should be rounded up. If less, the
decimal should be drop
Changes in Sound Level
 Sound intensity is not perceived directly at the ear; rather it is
transferred the complex hearing mechanism to the brain where
acoustical sensation can be interpreted as Loudness. This makes
hearing perception highly individualized.
 Sensitivity to noise also depends on frequency content, time of
occurrence, duration of sound and psychological factors such as
emotional and expectations
 The table is a reasonable guide to help explain increases or
decreases in sound levels for many architectural acoustics situation.

Human Ear
 Can detect sounds over a wide range of loudness and frequency
 Has the ability to detect individual sounds from within a complex
background of loud and unwanted sounds (in a noisy, crowded room
called the Cocktail Party Effect)
 Perception of speech can be nearly impossible at noise levels above 80
dB

How Sound is Receive by the Ear

 Ear is divided into 3 parts: Outer, Middle, and Inner
 Sound energy is first picked up by the outer ear (ear lobes of pinna). The
ear lobe is shaped to enhance sound pressure at eardrum and to help
determine location of sound source (catches sound)
 Sound waves then pass through the ear canal (which contains glands to
protect ear from foreign matter). It amplifies sound by resonance,
protects and directs sound waves to the eardrum.
 Eardrum (tympanic membrane) then vibrates to transfer the energy
through ear bones to the cochlea. Eardrum is like a disk
  Ear bones (ossicles) are composed of the hammer (malleus), anvil (incus)  If the ceiling and all four walls are treated with sound absorbing materials,
and stirrup (stapes) the sound level in the reverberant filed drops an additional 6 dB but the
 Eustation tube is a connection to the throat, which provides pressure sound levels near the source (in the field) are not affected
balance at the eardrum (equalize air pressure)  A reduction of 6 dB to 8 dB in reverberant noise is more likely the upper
 Cochlea is composed of hair cells of basilar membrane that vibrates to limit for furnished spaces of comparable size
aid in frequency recognition (filled with liquid)
 Long term repeated exposure to loud sounds can cause permanent Sound Absorption Coefficient (SAC)
damage to the inner ear (commonly called nerve deafness)  Measure of much sound energy is reflected or absorbed by a material
 When it is necessary to shout to be heard by the normal – hearing  Expressed as a value between 1.0 perfect absorption (no reflection) and
persons less than 3 ft away, the noise may be hazardous to the ears . In 0, zero absorption (total reflection)
this situation, wear hearing-protection devices such as earplugs, earmuffs  The effectiveness of a sound absorbing material can be expressed by its
or both when noise levels exceed about 100 dBA absorption coefficient (alpha)
 1 sq.ft of perfect absorption is equivalent to 1 Sabin (Imperial Unit)
Loudness Perception  1 sq.m of perfect absorption is equivalent to 1 Sabin (Metric Unit)
 1930 – Bel Labs, least expensive way of transmitting a phone call
 The experiment was done by Harvey Fletcher and Wilden A. Munson
 1 kHz tone was used as a reference point and measured the perceived
loudness of all frequencies within the hearing range
 Subjects and volunteers were subjected to a 1 kHz sound at 60 dB. This is
a loudness of 60 phon
 The average result from the subjects were taken and plotted in curves at
13 reference levels of 1 kHz, 10 dB apart from 0 to 120 dB. This chart
became known as the Fletcher-Munson Curve or the Equal-Loudness
Curve/Contour
 The new curve was revised and given the designation ISO-226:2003
 The study showed that we are most sensitive at 3,000 Hz (3kHz)
 The range in which the human ear is most sensitive is from 1 to 5 kHz.
This became the standard frequency used by the phone companies (it
takes less energy to hear the frequency)
 Sounds below 20 Hz is called infrasound. Sounds above 20 kHz is called
ultrasound (bats, dogs, whales, dolphins)
 Phon – loudness level, unit of loudness for tones or a given sound. Unit
of loudness

A-Weighted Sound Levels

 Humans are most sensitive in the frequency range about 1 kHz to 4 kHz
than to very low (infrasound – below 20 Hz) or high frequency sounds
(ultrasound – above 20 kHz)
 Sound meters are usually fitted with filter whose response to frequency is
a bit like that of the human ear (measurements are expressed at dBA)

Sound Absorbing Treatment

Resonators (Volume Resonators)
When sound impinges or impacts on a surface, part of its energy is
 Perforated materials only to absorb the mid frequency range
1. Absorbed
 Absorb sound in narrow frequency range (have holes and slots)
2. Transmitted
 Helmholtz Resonator – classic example of a resonator, shape of a bottle
3. Reflected
 Slots usually have a similar acoustic response. Long narrow slots can be
used to absorb low frequency
Noise Reduction Outdoors and Within Enclosures
 Free Field – occurs when sound waves are free from the influence or
Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC)
reflective surfaces (open areas, outdoors, anechoic rooms)
 A single number index for rating how absorptive a particular material is
 Anechoic rooms – have sound absorbing wedges on all six enclosing
 Simply the average of the mid frequency sound absorption coefficients
surfaces to stimulate the free field condition. These extremely “dead”
rooms allow indoor study of and research on direct sound without room
reflection effects
 Under free-field conditions, sound energy from point sources spreads
spherically and drops off 6 dB for each doubling of distance from the
source

Reverberant Field
(250, 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz rounded to the nearest 5 %)
 Indoors, sound energy drops off under free filed conditions only near the
source ( usually <5 ft for small room)
 Room surfaces reflects sound, there will be little further noise reduction
Laboratory Test Mounting
with distance away from the source
 Lab tests to determine SAC should be conducted according to the
 Reflections from walls and other objects may be just as strong as the
current ASTM C 423 procedures
direct sound form the point of source
 There are several types of mounting or installing methods for sound
 The more reflections in a room, the less build up of sound energy in the
absorbing materials used in buildings
reverberant filed
 Mounting used during tests should be indicated along with the SAC
 Without identifying the mounting method, sound absorption data is
Effect of Adding Sound-Absorbing Treatment to Rooms
meaningless
 The addition of sound absorbing treatments to the ceiling of a small
room (<500sq.ft) can reduce the reverberant sound levels by 10 dB
 Example, a product is advertised to nave a SAC of 0.80 but SAC achieved
was only 0.40 because the actual installation did not duplicate the lab test
or the correct installation method

Area Effect for Spaced Sound Absorbers

 The efficiency of a sound absorbing material can be affected by its
distribution and location in a room
 Acoustical materials spaced apart can have greater absorption than same
amount of material butted together
 The increase in efficiency is due to absorption by soft exposed edges and
also to diffraction of sound energy around panel perimeters
  This kind of surface treatment can also be used to achieve a diffuse sound
field, which is desired in music practice rooms
 Example: 25 panels of sound absorbing material each 2 feet x 2 feet will
absorb more sound energy per panel when spaced in a “checkerboard”
pattern on a 200 sq feet plaster ceiling than a uniform coverage of the
same material
 This increase of efficiency is called the “Area Effect”
 Note that the total absorption contributed by spaced absorbers in this
example will only be slightly less than the absorption provided by
coverage of the entire 200 square feet ceiling

Sound Baffle
 Any object designed to reduce airborne sound
Suspended Sound-Absorbing Panels and Units
Applications for Sound - Absorbing Materials
 Suspended sound absorbing panels are also called “Baffles” or “Sound
1. Reverberation Control
Baffles”
 Sound absorbing materials can be used to control reverberation so
 These are commercially available for installation in a spaced regular
speech will not be garbled
pattern
 The larger the room volume, the longer the reverberation time
 When these panels or baffles are installed with all edges and sides
because sound waves will encounter room surfaces less often than in
exposed, they can provide extremely high absorption per square foot of
a small rooms
material because at least 6 surfaces will be exposed to sound waves
 Each doubling of the total amount of absorption in a room reduces
 Absorption data for spaced units are normally presented by the quantity
the reverberation time by one half
that can be installed at the recommended spacings
 Sound absorption can make the sound seem to come directly from
 Suspended spaced absorbers can be used where a uniform or continuous
the actual source rather than from everywhere in the room
application of conventional sound absorbing material is not feasible.
2. Noise Reduction in Rooms
(example: industrial plants with extremely high ceilings)
 When correctly used, sound absorbing materials can be effective on
 Baffles or suspended flat-panel and spaced sound absorbing units should
controlling noise build up within a room
be well braced to prevent motion from air circulation in rooms
 However, they have a limited application for noise control and are
not the panacea for all noise problems

3. Echo Control
 Sound absorbing materials can be used to control echoes
 Echoes are long delayed, distinct reflections of sufficient sound level
to be clearly heard above the general reverberation as a repetition
of the original sound
 Echo is a reflection of sound, arriving at the listener some time after
the direct sound
 Echo (Greek) - Sound
 A true echo is a single reflection of the sound source
 If too many reflections and there is a build up of echoes - it is a
reverberation
 Creep echo - useless sound reflections concentrated near and along
smooth concave surfaces
 Flutter echo -an echo which can be heard as a “rattle” or “clicking”
from a hand clap may be present in a small room (narrow spaces
with parallel walls). It is a rapid succession of echoes caused by
reflection of sound back and forth between two parallel walls

REVERBERATION TIME
 Reverberation time is defined as the time required for the sound pressure to
drop by 60 dB upon termination
 Prof. Wallace C. Sabine (1869-1919) of Harvard University investigated
architectural acoustics scientifically, particularly with reference to reverberation
time. He deduced experimentally that the reverberation time is
1. Directly proportional to the volume of the hall (the bigger the volume
the longer the reverberation)
2. Inversely proportional to the effective absorbing surface area of the
walls and the materials inside the hall
 T is directly proportional to V/aA
  Long reverberation time degrade speech perception of hearing-impaired
persons far more than normal hearing persons
 For hearing impaired and elderly listeners, reverberation time should be well
below most of the values in the graph

 Example Problem (Reverberation Time)

Where: V = the volume of the hall (feet or meter)
A = the absorption coefficient of an area A (Sabin)
 If the volume is measured in cubic feet and area in square, then the
experimentally obtained value of the constant of proportionality, according to
Sabine is 0.05. Then,
1. A classroom 60 ft long by 35 ft wide by 15 ft high has sound
absorption coefficients (alpha)s of 0.30 for walls, 0.04 for ceiling,
and 0.10 for floor. All (alpha)s are at 500 Hz
Find the reverberation time T at 500 Hz in this space with no
occupants and no sound absorbing treatment
Find the reverberation time T if 50% of the ceiling surface (along
the perimeter of the room) is treated with acoustical panels at
(alpha) of 0.85. The central area remains sound-reflecting to help
distribute sound energy from lectern end toward rear of the room.

 If there are different absorbing surfaces of area A1, A2, A3, A4, etc., having
absorption coefficients a1, a2, a3, a4, etc., then,

 If the area is measured in square meters and the volume in cubic meters, then
Sabine’s formula can be written as:

 Increasing the effective area of complete absorption like, changing the wall
materials or adding more furniture may decrease an excessive reverberation
time for a hall.
 This also decreases the intensity of a steady tone.
 Too much absorption will make the reverberation time too short and cause the
room to sound acoustically ‘dead’.
 The optimum reverberation time is a compromise between clarity of sound
and its intensity

 The Sabine Formula is generally used by lab to compute absorption

coefficients and is appropriate for use in most architectural works
 It is reasonably accurate when sound field conditions are diffuse (sound
absorption uniformly distributed) and room dimensions do not vary widely
(compact rooms without one extremely long dimensions), rooms without deep
side pockets or transepts
 It should not be used for recording studios or anechoic chambers which have
extremely high ratios of absorption to room volume
 Works well for medium sized auditoriums
 Sabine Formula neglects air absorption which can be significant for large
auditoriums

Optimum Reverberation Time

 The preferred ranges of reverberation time at mid-frequency (average
reverberation at 500 Hz and 1,000 Hz) for a variety of activities are given on
the bar graph
 The ranges, based on the experience of normal hearing listeners in completed
spaces are extended by dashed sections at the ends of the bars to indicate the
extreme limits of acceptability
 In general, large rooms should be nearer the upper end of the reverberation
time ranges than smaller rooms of the same type