Architectural acoustics: From concert halls to classrooms

Abstract

Architectural Acoustics (AA) finds its application in and around the built environment and, in doing so, touches and interacts with many different disciplines. Within ASA, the TCAA consistently hosts joint special sessions with the noise, musical acoustics, psychological and physiological acoustics, and signal processing technical committees. Apart from its involvement with special sessions, many unique subcommittees bring added diversity within architectural acoustics. These include subcommittees on classroom acoustics, speech privacy, green building acoustics, healthcare acoustics, building performance standards, and the concert hall research group (CHRG). The makeup of members in the AA group is quite varied. It includes those involved in education and research to those in consulting as well as those in industries that supply products to this segment. Along with published research which is typical of most technical committees, a large segment of the TCAA’s accomplishments are based on the projects produced by consultants or the products provided by industries. The AA group has consistently been one of the larger groups of active participants. There is a unique balance between research, application, and industry support for this segment of acoustics, making the TCAA a great place to see new perspectives and make new connections with colleagues, friends, and mentors.