Rooftop acoustic barrier design without the need for roof penetrations

Abstract

Sound barriers are a common noise mitigation design solution to limit the emissions of rooftop equipment in noise sensitive locations. Adding a rooftop barrier, however, adds additional structural concerns including additional dead loads transferred to the roof that need to be considered. The industry-accepted practice is to connect the rooftop screen via fixed connections to the supporting structure below the roof line. This process can result in additional cost risk and may require involvement from several parties/sub-contractors throughout the installation process. Notable costs include scanning the existing roof structure for existing structural steel members/potential interferences, cutting holes at fixed member locations, properly levelling the fixed connections, and patching/roofing the holes. This paper investigates an application of rooftop sound barriers that requires no roof penetrations. These barriers are customizable and come in modular sections. The methodology of applying these customizable barriers is discussed along with their benefits and limitations within industrial/commercial applications.