Case study on acoustic improvement by refurbishment with natural elements in a courtyard

Hong Seok Yang, Myung Jun Kim, Jian Kang

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Courtyards surrounded by buildings often have acoustic defects such as strong flutter echoes and long RT (reverberation time), which could cause annoyance for the users of the courtyard, as well as people in adjacent buildings due to the enhanced noise level by multiple reflections. Therefore, it is important to absorb and diffuse sound energy propagating in such courtyards. The aim of this paper is to investigate the acoustic effectiveness of natural elements in such situations. Through a case study, the acoustic effects of natural elements were examined using in-situ measurement with and without natural elements. The parameters considered are RT, EDT (early decay time) and sound attenuation. The experimental result suggest that natural elements with wood decking and vegetation have a strong effect in reducing RT and EDT at 500 Hz, by about 47% (from 3.2 sec to 1.7 sec) and 87% (from 1.5 sec to 0.2 sec). It was also found that the natural elements can reduce RT effectively at low frequency in comparison with high frequency. For sound attenuation, sound level was decreased by around 3 dB in unweighted overall level by the natural elements.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication41st International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering 2012, INTER-NOISE 2012
Pages8897-8907
Number of pages11
StatePublished - 2012
Event41st International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering 2012, INTER-NOISE 2012 - New York, NY, United States
Duration: 19 Aug 201222 Aug 2012

Publication series

Name41st International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering 2012, INTER-NOISE 2012
Volume11

Conference

Conference41st International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering 2012, INTER-NOISE 2012
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityNew York, NY
Period19/08/1222/08/12

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