Architectural Acoustics - Mechanical Equipment Noise

Mechanical Equipment Noise

Building services noise control is the science of controlling noise produced by:

  • ACMV (air conditioning and mechanical ventilation) systems in buildings, termed HVAC in North America
  • Elevators
  • Electrical generators positioned within or attached to a building
  • Any other building service infrastructure component that emits sound.

Inadequate control may lead to elevated sound levels within the space which can be annoying and reduce speech intelligibility. Typical improvements are vibration isolation of mechanical equipment, and sound traps in ductwork. Sound masking can also be created by adjusting HVAC noise to a predetermined level.

Read more about this topic:  Architectural Acoustics

Famous quotes containing the words mechanical, equipment and/or noise:

    There is only one evil, to deny life
    As Rome denied Etruria
    And mechanical America Montezuma still.
    —D.H. (David Herbert)

    Dr. Scofield’s equipment, which you have just seen, radiated waves direct to Professor Houghland’s laboratory. When these waves came in contact with those the professor’s equipment was radiating, they created the interstellar frequency, which is the death ray.
    Joseph O’Donnell, and Clifford Sanforth. Arthur Perry (Bela Lugosi)

    I live in the angle of a leaden wall, into whose composition was poured a little alloy of bell-metal. Often, in the repose of my mid-day, there reaches my ears a confused tintinnabulum from without. It is the noise of my contemporaries.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)