A subjective evaluation of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers plumbing noise guidelines.

Abstract

An evaluation of the ASHRAE plumbing noise guidelines was made by measuring plumbing noise and asking a small, trained jury to evaluate the noise subjectively. Measurements were made of supply and waste noise in a residential building where the plumbing system was isolated from direct contact with the structure and another residential building where no isolation was present. Background noise levels were also documented. In addition to listening to and evaluating the plumbing noise in the sample buildings, the plumbing noise was recorded during the measurements and played back to jury members in various room types and in the midst of various background noise levels. In addition to evaluating the acceptability of the noise versus the A-weighted noise level, the frequency characteristics of isolated and non-isolated plumbing noise were evaluated in an attempt to determine if A-weighted criteria are sufficient to identify acceptable plumbing noise levels.