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Offices

A good office acoustical environment is desirable to optimize comfort and productivity of employees, to minimize annoyance, and to ensure acceptable speech privacy. Design objectives include minimizing reverberation, background noise, the propagation of sounds across the office by reflections, and the transmission of sounds through interior partitions and exterior constructions.

Designs for acoustics involve proper layouts of open-plan offices, closed offices, and conference rooms, proper selections of ceiling and wall finishes, appropriate selections of partition types for sound insulation, and proper selection of heating and ventilation equipment  and layouts of ducted systems.  Electronic masking spaces can be used in open-plan offices and in areas around conference rooms and closed offices to further improve speech privacy.

Acoustical criteria for offices include recommended maximum Reverberation Times, minimum sound absorption ratings of finishes, maximum background noise levels, minimum ratings of Outdoor-Indoor Transmission Class, minimum indoor Sound Transmission Class, and speech privacy in terms of Articulation Class.  Design parameters for acoustics and speech privacy in offices are discussed in ASTM E 1374-06(2011): Standard Guide for Open Office Acoustics and Applicable ASTM Standards.  The document references ASTM standards suitable for evaluating the sound attenuation and speech privacy between work spaces and needed masking levels.  Additional reference guidelines containing office acoustics criteria include the ASHRAE Applications Handbook, the GSA Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service, and other documents.

We provide design assistance to architects and interior designers to help them choose:

• Office layouts, partition types, and office furnishing components for proper sound insulation and speech privacy
• Room sizes and acoustic room finishes to minimize reverberation and speech reflections
• Electronic background masking systems for enhanced speech privacy

We provide design assistance to mechanical engineers to help them choose:

• Quiet ventilation and other mechanical equipment based on rated sound levels
• Duct silencing where needed to reduce fan noise
• Appropriate selections and layouts of ducts terminal devices to minimize flow-generated noise

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