Acoustics

Sound surrounds us day and night. In the area of ​​building acoustics, we deal with the interactions of buildings, the building environment and use in terms of sound technology. This applies to the building constructions and component and room dimensions, the location-related noise immissions from outside as well as noises that arise inside the building and also spread to other areas of use. In addition to the mathematical determination of building acoustic parameters, metrological studies on airborne and impact sound insulation are an essential part of our field of work. The use of the latest measuring devices and simulation tools is a matter of course.

Audibility plays an equally important role in rooms used by people, such as a well-thought-out floor plan or suitable lighting conditions. The majority of the built rooms should enable communication; room acoustics that are tailored to the use of the room support them considerably. In general, a distinction is made here between communication over short distances, such as across the counter, the canteen table or the writing desk, and over long distances, e.g. in the lecture hall or in the theater. Good audibility for speech performances means, for example, that speech intelligibility is good everywhere in the room, even without using an electro-acoustic system. Room acoustic measurements such as the reverberation time are the basis for dimensioning structural measures to optimize audibility in the event of acoustic complaints from users. Frequent problems here are excessive sound pressure levels in the room or the issue of speech intelligibility. Especially in the case of new buildings or acoustic renovations, room acoustic simulations help to carry out targeted parameter studies on room structure, expansion and furnishing as well as occupancy in advance. This affects meeting rooms of all kinds, i.e. open-plan offices as well as kindergartens, schools, community halls and cafeterias.