Jeff Teel, Director of Acoustics and Josh Thede, Acoustical Consultant, recently represented Henderson Engineers at the Acoustical Society of America’s 182^nd meeting in Denver, Colorado. This acoustics-industry event is attended by acoustical consultants, engineers, scientists, manufacturers, and those in academia (both faculty and students).

As part of the conference’s “Acoustic Comfort In Healthcare Facilities” session, Teel provided a presentation on “Prefabricated Partitions in a Hospital Clinic – Airborne Sound Isolation Design and Field Measurements.” This presentation highlighted a case study over a recently completed project where prefabricated (sometimes called demountable) partitions were used in the patient and exam rooms at an addition to a hospital.  Diligent care and emphasis on wall details and installation were included in the design and implemented in construction.  Acoustic testing after the hospital opened showed that the expected design ratings carried over to field performance.  The hospital says that patient reviews have been overwhelmingly positive.

Thede presented on “BIM Automation HVAC Noise Calculation.” There are several established procedures and design tools for estimating the background sound levels from heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) building systems. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a process commonly used in architecture, engineering, and construction that uses data to generate digital representations of a building’s physical and functional characteristics.

This presentation highlighted a BIM-automated design tool which uses a Dynamo script and a Revit model duct layout to estimate HVAC noise levels in buildings. With just a few inputs in the model, the script calculates the sound attenuation of each duct element and receiver room sound correction to estimate the HVAC background sound level in any space or building type. Leveraging existing data through BIM automation can help create efficient, optimized designs and improve coordination between mechanical engineers, architects, and acoustical consultants to meet acoustical design criteria.

• Read More: BIM Automation: Where Efficiency and Optimization Converge

FGI Guidelines

A hot topic at every ASA Meeting, the Facilities Guidelines Institute (FGI) was discussed heavily. A general overview of how FGI’s Guidelines document (now three parts) is developed every four years was provided by a member of the FGI board. The latest edition came out just weeks before this conference.

It is important to note that the sound and vibration portion of the Guidelines is a very small piece of the overall document, which provides minimum code requirements for design and construction of healthcare facilities. However, the presenter emphasized that they are among the most important (but still somehow overlooked) design criteria. Many hospital systems feel that their success and failure with patient comfort revolves around the acoustic environment.

The continued rise in overall patient dissafisfaction in the acoustic environment has essentially mandated FGI to overhaul and strengthen acoustic criteria, so requirements are regularly updated and expanded with each new edition of the Guidelines. The 2022 addition will feature 14 major changes and additions to FGI’s Sound and Vibration criteria. Henderson Engineers has developed a one-hour/one CEU presentation over FGI Guidelines and sound and vibration design. This course will be updated soon to reflect the 2022 changes. To learn more, visit Henderson University.

• Read More: Understanding FGI: Improve Your Patient Experience with Better Acoustics

Patient Rooms and Operating Rooms

Another topic of discussion was the recent mandate moving all patient rooms in hospitals to single-bed rooms. While the initial thought was there would be negative feedback from hospital systems due to costs, most responses have been positive for the more than 1,000 new projects reviewed by FGI since the mandate. Single-bed rooms offer more privacy and opportunities to rest which has heightened patient comfort.

A discussion point on the horizon is solving the acoustic environment in operating rooms. Currently, there is not a finished product or solution that can provide good acoustical efficiency while providing the cleanability that is required for infection control. As such, all surfaces are hard, which leads to excessive reverberant buildup. It was noted that this is the top request among surgeons that is currently impossible to provide.

Innovative Ideas Related to Acoustics

Outside of the traditional discussion points related to acoustics and noise in regards to typical day-to-day architectural acoustics, there were other interesting topics discussed. These included:

• Noise – Community perception of traffic noise, sonic booms/sonic thumps, noise from wind farms, and cryptocurrency miners’ mitigation.
• Standards – ASTM Acoustic measurement procedures for sound isolation and impact noise control, 2021 IBC Code Updates include new acoustics requirements for multifamily residences and schools.
• Echolocation – Bats and dolphins: clicks bouncing off objects and back to animals ears to be able to “see” underwater and in the dark. Potential uses in sonar technology for the navy.
• Musical acoustics – Physics of steel pan drums.
• Psychological acoustics – Perception of teachers talking to students with cochlear implants, Recommended masks for teachers for best speech intelligibility, communication, and learning.
• Physical acoustics – Monitoring thunderstorm with infrasound microphones to determine if tornados are present (can detect 1 to 10 Hz if tornados, minimal low-frequency tones for storms without tornados).

Henderson Knows Acoustics

Where people gather, communication matters. Acoustics engineering helps you cut through the noise and build a space where the focus remains on the message.  Whether in offices, classrooms or performing arts centers our job is to make it easier for you to do yours. Learn more about Henderson’s acoustics services by clicking here.