Design Details For Good Acoustics:
Part 1 – Walls

Acoustical design requirements are frequently based on laboratory test data. Walls constructed in a lab for testing are built under ideal conditions and with high levels of precision. These walls also do not have any of the attachments or penetrations that are ubiquitous in real-world construction. Selecting a tested wall design that meets an STC requirement is not enough to provide adequate sound isolation in the real-world. To achieve good sound isolation it is imperative that designers understand how to treat the myriad of details that can compromise a wall’s performance. These include: electrical boxes, hanging cabinets, window mullions, control joints, intersections, and more. In this presentation we: discuss why a detail is important for noise control, provide the acoustical impact of poor detailing based on test data (when available), and provide acoustical best practices for the details.

• Define sound, its behavior, and how it is quantified
• Define sound transmission class and impact insulation class and determine the code requirements for sound transmission criteria
• Predict airborne and structure born noise paths and select appropriate sound isolation details to disrupt these paths
• Identify sound isolation techniques, materials, and products
• Recognize the role of resilient sound isolation clips in sound attenuation and specify appropriate locations for their use