Acoustics is an art as well as a science and I will only be able to touch on the basic in this factoid. Sound control techniques will vary from one type of office layout to another with the open office layout the most problematic. I’m only going to cover some general concepts that can be applied to any office layout in this factoid. In order to understand noise and noise control we must first understand how sound waves travel through an office or other structured space. The first thing that we must keep in mind is that sound travels by direct waves and by reflected waves. Probably the most distracting sounds are caused by the reflected waves because they are the ones that generate echoing sounds.
Two of the largest sound reflecting surfaces in any office are the ceilings and the walls. Floors, as a rule, aren’t a concern here because most offices have carpeted floors and carpet absorbs sound rather than reflect it. Office wall can be refinished using special acoustic paints or acetic spray plaster finishes. Non-acoustic ceilings can be refinished using the same methods. Floor-to-ceiling drapes are also an effective means to eliminate reflected sounds. You can cover the walls with decorative cloth murals as well.
An open office layout presents the most problems where noise control is concerned. In an open office environment we can erect acoustic partitions around individual workstations creating a cubical effect. For the best results the openings in these cubical should be positioned in such a way as to eliminate line of sight contact between employees. These acoustic partitions absorb rather than transmit sounds and reduce the office noise level by as much as 21 Decibels depending on the panels STC (Sound Transmission Control) Rating. An STC Rating of 21 will reduce sound by 21 Decibels. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Decibel here is a simple explanation of how it works in relation to how loud a sound is. On the decibel scale, the smallest audible sound (near total silence) is 0 dB. A sound 10 times more powerful is 10 dB. A sound 100 times more powerful than near total silence is 20 dB. A sound 1,000 times more powerful than near total silence is 30 dB.
Electronic sound masking techniques
Electronic Sound Masking is a way to gently override the sounds that are not absorbed or blocked by acoustical panels. Sound Masking provides a fixed a constant level of unobtrusive background sound, which is set to cover the speech levels as well as soften the other noises, so they appear as much smaller sound fluctuations. The result is that unwanted noise does not register to the human ear as a distraction. The individual h as no need to shout into the telephone and is more relaxed and productive in his or her work. Explaining how this technology works is beyond the scope of this factoid but for a good introduction to this technology go to http://office-sound-masking.com/.
Hire a consultant to come in and do an acoustic analysis. What the expert charges for his/her services may be less then what you will spend if you attack the problem by a trial and error method. When it comes to noise control there is no one universal panacea, each situation is unique and the expert has the training and experience to determine what is needed to achieve the level of noise control you desire and/or need.
