Status and dissemination of the current calculation algorithms used in the American Society of Heating and Refrigeration Engineers handbooks

Abstract

The Fundamentals and Applications Handbooks by the American Society of Heating and Refrigeration Engineers (ASHRAE) include chapters on noise and vibration control that provide the foundation of most HVAC noise control calculations, whether in commercially available software or in custom software developed by practitioners. The handbooks, however, do not always delve into the detailed calculation algorithms that were used to develop the published tables and charts nor do they provide detailed descriptions of the assumptions and limitations of various calculation methods. ASHRAE last published a compendium of all the calculation algorithms in 1991; the handbooks have been updated to reflect recent research, but without a corresponding update of the detailed algorithms. This paper will summarize ways in which the algorithms have changed since 1991 and discuss the nascent work by the ASHRAE Technical Committee on Sound and Vibration Control (TC 2.6) to compile a new updated compendium of algorithms.