Uses of sound intensity in architectural acoustics practice

Abstract

Sound intensity has received significant attention over the past five years in the fields of noise control and product noise analysis. Yet, at this date, it is an infrequently used technique in consulting acoustics in general. Standards have been slow in developing and thus have not increased its use, and the most fundamental reason for its use is still the utility of its results rather than any existing standard. The benefit of intensity measurement in architecture is principally in its ability to indicate source direction, and this benefit is particularly important in a number of fields now being studied. The first of these is the open plan office, and the current work in intensity is based on an interest in the performance of acoustical dividers and absorbers. The second field, for which intensity seems to be the only measurement technique that is easily used, is the analysis of compound element building facades. This analysis is aimed at developing field transmission loss values for facade elements, such as windows, doors, and wall sections.