Prediction and control of sound fields in workrooms and "green" buildings

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The acoustical environment in a workroom has a direct effect on the health, well-being and productivity of the workers. The direct and indirect socio-economic costs of such problems can be enormous. 'Green' buildings, the future of architecture have particular acoustical problems which lead to great occupant dissatisfaction. The problems must be investigated and resolved. 'Green' roofs have potential for noise control that must be investigated. Workroom acoustical environments can be controlled. This is often done retroactively; optimization of the acoustical environment at the design stage is much more cost-effective. Noise control traditionally involves passive methods; the future of noise control involves active methods. The proposed research will provide the knowledge, predictive tools and noise-control measures to allow the acoustical environment in workrooms to be optimized at the design stage. It will apply inverse methods to obtain realistic data on room-prediction parameters in existing rooms, as well as to develop a method for identifying noise sources in industrial workshops. Models will be developed for predicting sound-pressure fields in workshops, including obstacles, and in 'green' buildings, and sound transmission between rooms through partitions with ventilators, possibly acoustically treated. The models will be used to optimize ventilator design. A model for predicting the optimal configuration, and the effectiveness, of a local active-control system in workshops will be consolidated and applied. The potential for using 'green' roofs to control external-internal noise transmission will be studied. Active-control technology will be integrated into 'green'-building ventilator design.