Noise in the Workplace

Noise in the Workplace and what we can do to reduce its NEGATIVE effects

SHHHH!!!!

Are we really better collaborators in open offices?

People are at the mercy of sounds within their environment, both indoors and outdoors. From the hum of rooftop cooling units to your neighbor’s booming surround sound stereo, the world is filled with “noise pollution” — any number of factors can have an adverse effect on our work, our stress levels, our ability to sleep, and, ultimately, our health.

What’s with all the NOISE? Open office plans are the norm these days. They are light-filled, beautiful, hip...and often times quite noisy. Studies, articles and educational sessions on the effects of noise in the workplace are abundantly available to us through a variety of media: newspapers, magazines, blogs and research. What are we to understand and learn from all of this?

The Boston Globe Metro

Soundproofers are Getting More Calls (published July 2, 2018)

Fast Company

Here’s the Final Nail in the Coffin of Open Plan Offices (published July 19, 2018)

Forbes

The Open-Office Concept is Dead (published May 12, 2016)

The New York Times

Noise is a Health Hazard (published July 23, 2017)

Blocking Out the CIty’s Noise (published July 24, 2017) The Wall Street Journal

Your Office is Too Loud - Here’s How to Escape and Work Anywhere (published June 3, 2018)

The Washington Post

Google Got it Wrong: The Open-Office Trend is Destroying the Workplace (published December 30, 2014)

As office design increasingly favors open plans, employees now experience intensified issues with sound disturbances at work as well. Yes, the backlash against noise in the workplace is a loud one. But don’t ditch those floor plans just yet. We’re here to help, and are ready to listen...

What can we do to reduce NOISE in corporate workspaces?

S

G

ANALYSIS GROUP Client: CBT Architects photo: © Robert Benson Photography

F

C

W

D

Well, we’re glad you asked!

S Sound Masking that covers up noise to decrease interruption and increase privacy

G

Glazing that allows for natural light while blocking exterior noise

F

Flooring that absorbs the impact of footsteps to limit sound heard below

C Ceilings that absorb sound to limit distraction between neighbors in open plan spaces

W

Walls that provide visual and acoustic privacy, and prevent confidential information from being overheard

D

Doors that are easy to operate but work as well as walls for sound isolation

CASE STUDY NIKE NYHQ, New York, NY Architect: STUDIOS Architecture Acentech’s team provided guidance on how to best balance the many components of Nike’s new NY headquarters. The unique amenities within this space require specific considerations to ensure that bustling activity does not interfere with the need for privacy. With “freestyle” offices, prototype/design workshops, wellness rooms, a library, two terraces, a fitness studio, and a basketball court, Nike’s new space looks to provide a fun, engaging, inspiring and holistic experience for its employees. The dynamically different areas within the facility required an appropriate level of sound separation to foster connection among staff while controlling potential distraction, including the above grade basketball court. With another tenant space below, particular attention was needed to ensure that the basketball court did not interfere with this neighbor, or with other Nike spaces above.

photos: © Garrett Rowland

CASE STUDY Partners HealthCare, Somerville, MA Architect: Gensler Acentech’s team of acousticians helped Gensler design the new Partners HealthCare HQ open work spaces to allow employees the ability to collaborate or hunker down and focus on work. Highly absorptive ceiling panels, glazed dividers between critical spaces, and even wall hangings which appear decorative but actually work as sound absorptive tools are all key pieces of creating this ideal workplace environment.

We also specified the important performance parameters of the speech privacy/sound masking system to enhance the staff’s sense of privacy throughout the workspaces.

Mechanical system noise and vibration control also played a key role in ensuring the employees would not be disturbed by the noise from ventilation systems required for such a large facility.

photo: © Robert Benson Photography

CASE STUDY Continuum HQ, Boston, MA Architect: Höweler + Yoon An award-winning product design firm, Continuum is known for bringing dreams to life. A substantial aspect of this reputation stems from being an easily accessible, collaborative workforce. Yet, along with conversation and teams meeting in open spaces, the staff still needed speech privacy and some level of sound isolation from noisy equipment. Acentech’s consultants provided guidance on how to keep these open, collaborative spaces free from distractions. The noisy machine shop spaces are separated from the sensitive photo/video production studio and the open work areas.

Proper room finishes, sound absorptive features, desk configurations, isolated small meeting spaces, and mechanical system noise control all contribute to the flexibility of this new headquarters in Boston’s Innovation and Design Building.

photos: © John Horner

Glossary of Acoustic/Noise Control Terms ABCs The three key principals for acoustic design: Absorb, Block and Cover: Absorption The conversion of sound energy into heat energy by penetration into porous materials or reaction with flexible panels. Open-plan offices need as much sound absorption as possible to stop sound from traveling within the space and causing distractions. Good absorption materials include ceiling tiles and acoustical treatments for walls and flooring.

Block A surface or material that can withstand the transmission of sound.

Cover Sound masking system designed to increase background noise level and assist with speech privacy.

Ambient Sound Level The sound level at a location arising from all sound sources in an area.

Background Sound Level The sound level in an area, including all sound energy except a specific sound source of interest.

Barrier Physical structure or acoustical treatment that can block sound transmission for acoustic and visual privacy.

Ceiling For good sound absorption, ceiling finishes should have Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) of at least 0.85. Treatments can be integrated with suspended ceilings or surfaceapplied.

Diffusion The scattering of sound energy in a sound wave after it encounters an irregular or convex reflective surface.

Floating Floor A floor that is structurally isolated from a building by using resilient pads and springs between the floor and all rigid connections with the building’s structure.

Frequency The rate of oscillation of a sound wave, in units of cycles per second, or hertz (Hz).

Hot Spot A location in a room where sound, subjectively, appears stronger than that in surrounding regions, usually resulting from reflections from concave reflective surfaces.

Impact Insulation Class (IIC) A single number rating system (defined in ASTM Standard E989) for the sound reduction effectiveness of a floor-ceiling assembly for impact sounds, such as footfalls.

Insulation The ability of material to reduce airborne sound transmission.

Isolation The ability of a material to reduce structure-borne sound and vibration transmission.

Masking (or Sound Masking) Adding acceptable sound to an environment to make unwanted sound inaudible or less annoying.

NIC Noise Isolation Class. A single number noise reduction rating of a partition, room, or enclosure.

Noise Unwanted sound.

Noise Reduction (NR) The reduction in sound pressure level by a partition between rooms, taking into account the transmission loss and the absorption in the room benefitted by the partition.

Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) The arithmetic average of absorption coefficients in the 250-, 500-, 1000- and 2000-Hz octave bands (rounded to the closest 0.05) used as a single-number rating for a material’s absorption in the human speech frequency range.

Point Source A sound source that is small in size compared to the distance to a measurement location; its propagation path is spherical.

Pure Tone A sound signal with its energy at a single frequency.

Reflection Sound energy bouncing off a surface at the same angle with respect to the surface that the incident wave had.

Resonance A material object vibrating at an amplified level when exposed to a specific frequency of sound energy.

Reverberation The buildup of noise energy in a room as a result of repeated reflections of sound waves off all room surfaces.

Sound Pressure Level Noise Reduction Coefficient.

Spectrum A graphical representation of sound level versus frequency.

Speech Privacy A function of a variety of parameters depending on the space, typically involving noise reduction of the unwanted sound source and sufficient background noise level (sound masking).

Transmission Coefficient For a sound wave incident on a partition, the ratio of the energy transmitted through the partition to that incident upon the surface.

Wavelength The distance between repeating sections of a pure tone and sound wave.

Thanks!

for more info contact

Ioana Pieleanu, Principal Consultant ipieleanu@acentech.com | marketing@acentech.com 617 499 8000

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