Acoustic Test in the Field

Holly Van Straten

Modine Manufacturing

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Project location :

United States

April 28, 2015

I am a manufacturer of HVAC equipment that is installed in a classroom. Due to this prerequisite I get frequently asked if we "meet LEED standards". Is there a test that validates the entire installed acoustic system in the field before occupancy to verify all the calculations/simulations were correct? I am having trouble discussing the sound performance of my unit with Engineers because they look for me to verify I meet a criteria, when sound pressure is dependent on the acoustic property of everything within the space. Any help in understanding how this prerequisite is validated in the field would be greatly appreciated.

Post a reply

Daniel Hicks

Daniel Hicks, E.I., INCE

Geiler & Associates

LEEDuser Basic Member

175 thumbs up

Tue, 04/28/2015 - 21:54

There are two ways to meet the background noise requirement. The most common approach is to design the mechanical system using sound data taken from the mechanical equipment. It's typical to add silencers, duct liner, acoustic flex duct, acoustic plenums, etc. during design and calculate what the background noise level would be. The ASHRAE Applications handbook, Chapter 47, outlines how the calculations are made. There is no requirement to field verify the noise levels in the field if the design approach is used but calculations based on ASHRAE need to be shown for each space. The other approach is to make measurements in the space after the equipment has been installed to field verify the requirements have been met. The requirements for the measurements are outlined in ANSI S12-60-2002 (or a standard that is comparable to ANSI can be used for non-US projects). Typically a test report listing the noise measurement results for all of the spaces is submitted with the LEED documents. Does this help answer your question?