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Academic Journal of Engineering Studies

A Building and Architectural Acoustics Code for the Gulf Region

Djamel Ouis1* and Abdelghani Gramez2

1Department of Architectural Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals 31261, Dhahran

2The High School of Applied Sciences of Algiers, Place des Martyrs, 16001 Algiers, Algeria

*Corresponding author: Djamel Ouis, Department of Architectural Engineering, Saudi Arabia

Submission: November 28, 2021; Published: December 21, 2021

DOI: 10.31031/AES.2021.02.000543

ISSN:2694-4421
Volume2 Issue4

Abstract

Countries around the Arabian Gulf have building codes for specifying the rules of construction, safety and welfare in buildings. However, these codes typically lack details about the acoustical requirements. The acoustical code precepts are specified according to standards specified for procuring, ideally, a noiseless environment for living, working and studying. Private houses built in quiet city areas together with dwelling apartments suitably protected from noise generated by neighbors or from outdoors traffic tend to be highly rated on the quest lists of the real estate market. Similarly, classrooms in schools as well as office spaces constructed and internally designed in compliance with the acoustical recommendations ensure respectively a better learning environment and improved working performance. This paper presents the most important components of an acoustical code to reckon with in view of enacting a building code that is complete from the engineering, sustainability and judicial perspectives.

Keywords:Building code; Building acoustics; Architectural acoustics; Noise

Background

The Gulf region is one of the most active regions in the world in terms of construction. Despite the availability and the implementation of building standards and codes, these often lack the important parts which deal with the fine points of building acoustics design and the codification for restraining noise issues. It is known that buildings constructed some decades ago and earlier suffer serious deficiencies pertaining to noise and vibration insulation. This is partly the result of inadequate protection of the building envelope from intrusive outdoors noise through building partitions, leaks, and ventilation ducting systems, and also because of insufficient measures for attenuating noise and for blocking vibrations generated within the building structure itself. This latter may be generated in adjacent dwelling units or may result from footfall on the flours and the operation of mechanical systems like the elevators or the HVAC systems. Moreover, considering the prevailing construction megaprojects and the ever-growing number of noise sources in the urban environment such as cars, trains, aircrafts or construction sites, the urge of controlling and regulating the exposure of the population to these kinds of noise in their homes and at workplaces becomes imperative. Along with considering the technical construction details and the design of building elements with the appropriate selection of their materials, a building code is also expected to be devoted to regulating the limits of levels, times and durations of noise exposure. Such a code thus has for objective to ensure a set of minimum requirements to be fulfilled at the accomplishment of the building and which both guarantees the expectations of the user and judicially protects the constructor. More importantly, considering the conformity of the noise regulation requirements at the earliest phases of its conception turns out to be the least exhaustive and technically the most efficient way of designing a building. In this respect, a retrofitting operation on an existing building is often too onerous for a consideration, if successful at all [1,2].

Technical characteristics of noise control in buildings

Questions related to human health are central to the assessments that must be made when planning for and building houses. Noise affects human health in several ways, and research clearly indicates that this impact is often underestimated. Noise, through interfering with activity, also alters human performance in offices and the learning of children in schools. No matter how desirable it is, it is not always feasible in the short term to ensure a sound living or working environment that is good in all respects without considering the noise issue. This is especially true when new homes are added in the cities’ traffic noise-exposed and densely populated areas. There are no magic recipes for solving the problem of noise and this may “ultimately” eventually be weighed up, where local factors and special circumstances affect the assessment in each particular case. A comprehensive building code covering noise requirements usually involves the monitoring of six different technical characteristics listed in:
A. Airborne sound insulation (walls, floors/ceilings and doors)
B. Impact sound insulation (floors/ceilings and staircases)
C. Façade insulation (outer walls, windows, roofs and ventilation intakes)
D. Equipment noise (structure-borne sound, machines, HVAC systems)
E. Room acoustics, reverberation times, furnishings and sound absorbers
F. Transportation noise (from cars, aircraft and trains) outdoors (outside façade and on patios)

The many issues that need to be addressed in these characteristics appeal to considering facts which:
a) affect several types of building components
b) come into all stages of the construction process
c) must be handled by different actors (disciplines)

The implementation of these requirements aims at ensuring a diurnal environment suitably quiet for daily activities and for averting sleep disturbances caused by nocturnal noise. This can be achieved through observing the rules for mitigating noise intrusion in habitable spaces [3].

Noise control and noise descriptors in dwellings

Two kinds of noise are considered in dwellings. Air-borne noise transmitted through separating partitions may be controlled by mounting building elements with appropriate combinations of insulating materials. The noise insulation capacity of a partition is given in terms of its Sound Transmission Class rating, the value of which is recommended to be above STC=52 for guaranteeing a minimum acoustical comfort. The single value STC is determined from the transmission loss spectrum level of the partition. The second type of noise is that which is generated by the fall of objects on the floor, and which is transmitted to the dwelling underneath through the floor-ceiling partition. The Impact Insulation Class rating, IIC, also determined in a manner related to that of the STC but using a standardized impact noise generating instrument, gives a clue on the performance of a floor-ceiling partition in reducing impact noise. The IIC value as recommended for habitations is not to be less than IIC=50. For circumstances of noise prevailing under long periods of time, the recommendations for residential spaces are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1: Various noise descriptors in residences and their recommended limits.

Background noise in educational and commercial premises

For enhancing learning proficiency and anticipating noise induced annoyance and distraction in schools there are requirements regarding the acoustical planning of classrooms through minimizing the level of background noise, assigning the optimal value of the reverberation time and providing a minimum rate of speech intelligibility (evaluated with the Speech Transmission Index, STI). Background noise is prevailing in almost all kinds of buildings in the Gulf region during long months of the year as resulting from operating the air conditioning systems for cooling spaces from the scorching temperatures of the desert climate. Using a set of standardized curves, namely the Noise Rating Curves, NC, background noise is evaluated as a single value representation of the complete measured background noise spectrum levels, and is presented as the Noise Rating, NR. Table 2 gives examples of applications of unoccupied spaces intended for various uses according to their corresponding NR values.

Table 2: NR values of spaces with their recommended use.

Conclusion

The building codes of the countries in the Arabian Gulf lack the important component treating of acoustics. For improved comfort and quality of indoor environment, and for an enhanced performance in education and working, an extensive building code requires regulating the exposure of the population to noise. This paper presents a few essential elements to consider in terms of building elements and interior architectural design for limiting the noise levels in dwellings, schools and working spaces.

References

  1. The international organization for standardization. Acoustics, ISO.
  2. International building code. IBC.
  3. National building code of Canada.

© 2021 Djamel Ouis. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.