Blog - BAP Acoustics

May 14 2019

Choosing an acoustical consultant: It’s all about due diligence

In crafting this opening paragraph, the most salient observation I’m inclined to share is that—just as anyone can call themselves a writer—anyone can call themselves an acoustical consultant. That doesn’t mean highly qualified acoustical consultants aren’t out there, but it does suggest you’ll need to take some time and care to find the right one for you. Hint: While anyone can indeed call themselves an acoustical consultant, acoustical engineers earn their titles through rigorous academic study and credentials.

Acoustical engineers earn their titles through rigorous academic study and credentials.

So how do you find that formally trained and accredited consultant? A fast peruse through Google or the Yellow Pages will yield dozens of listed “acoustical consultants”, but be aware that many of them are contractors or material suppliers as opposed to qualified and experienced engineers. The former may build or sell products; the latter will provide expert, unbiased advice, and that’s indispensable. To secure the best possible acoustic conditions for your project—no matter its scope—you’ll want to do a little digging. Beyond visiting and reading company websites, we suggest the following measures.

1. Outline your specific needs

To the greatest extent possible, know what you need at the outset. Certainly a consultant can guide you in clarifying your acoustic requirements. But the more you can define how you’d like the space to look, feel, sound, and function, the better they can help you achieve those desired results.

2. Determine the scope of your project

Your consultant’s involvement level can vary considerably. Are you looking for comprehensive service, from space analysis, design advice and material sourcing through to compliance testing? Or do you need more basic help and general recommendations? Establish this early to avoid confusion later.

3. Ask around

One day, I’d love to buy a camper van and travel around the continent in it. But seeing as I know very little about these vehicles, the first thing I’d do before shopping is ask my online community members to share their knowledge and recommendations. Before randomly choosing an acoustical consultant, seek out the experiences of others who have worked with these professionals. Approach civic planners, mechanical services engineers, architects and developers for their advice. Or ask your online colleagues and friends, who may well have more to offer than cat videos or Netflix series spoilers.

4. Establish a shortlist of candidates

Having done your homework, you’re now ready to narrow down options before picking up the phone or writing those emails.

5. Contact your initial choices.

Communicate your needs and scope as clearly as possible, making sure to request a proposal and capability statement from each firm.

Request a proposal and capability statement from each firm.

6. Review proposals and statements to further narrow your choices.

At this stage, you’ll want to look for:

Qualifications, experience and resources.
- Gather all relevant information about individuals who will potentially work on your project.
- Remember, even if someone works for a large, copiously staffed organization, they may not personally have a great deal of experience. You probably don’t want a project manager learning on your dime.
Recent, relevant project experience and references or testimonials.
- Of all considerations, experience stands out as perhaps the most important.
- The ideal choice will have worked on projects as similar to yours as possible. Acoustical requirements of a yoga studio, as an example, differ substantially from those of a house.
Insurance.
- BAP Acoustics carries $2M Professional Liability Insurance coverage and $5M General Liability Insurance coverage.
- A copy of BAP Acoustics’ Professional Liability certificate is available to potential clients upon request.

Key takeaway here? Compare apples with apples—i.e. fees with fees—only after you’ve compared exactly what it is you’ll receive for your money.

Of all considerations, experience stands out as perhaps the most important.

7. Talk to the firms you’ve selected as suitable candidates and hire the one best meeting your criteria.

In negotiating conditions of engagement, ensure your budget allows the consultant to properly undertake your project. Again, overall fees and hourly rates should comprise only one component of your decision. “You get what you pay for” may be a cliché, but like all the best clichés, it holds some water. (What? “Holds water” is an idiom, not a cliché.)

So why choose BAP?

TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE:
As a team of professional engineers, we conduct research and develop software tools to better understand and solve your acoustic problems.

CUSTOMER VALUE:
Through this better understanding, we recommend cost-effective solutions without over-engineering.

TEAMWORK:
We integrate with your team to deliver acoustic performance.

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS:
Our technical knowledge and extensive experience allows us to offer innovative solutions.

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE:
We support additional market sectors through our extended team including our UK partners.

FLEXIBILITY:
Our flexible and efficient team meets your unique requirements and delivers on time.

Still unclear as to whether you need an acoustical consultant and how choose one? We encourage you to contact us with any questions you may have.

Apr 03 2019

Now we’ve heard everything! Acoustical myths soundly debunked.

Some bloggers begin mapping out their posts by searching for images that align with or enhance the topics they’re writing about. So imagine this writer’s “surprise” when Google failed to deliver the perfect photo to share with you here. Could it be that no one has ever taken a picture of the DIY soundproofing project that entails nailing mattresses to walls? And while carpeting walls may or may not constitute an aesthetic felony, it definitely fails as a soundproofing measure. But hey, we do have visual representation of that particular myth.

*When failed soundproofing makes you see red*

Myths about sound control and acoustics in general abound, replete with a colourful history. In his book Architectural Acoustics, Christopher N. Brooks cites two major categories of acoustical myths: wishful thinking about noise control, and charming myths about concert halls. Examples of the latter include the popular belief that “Broken wine bottles under the stage are the secret to the great acoustics in old European halls.”

Whether you’re an audiophile or an architect, read on to learn more about what to unlearn when it comes to the following misguided approaches to manipulating sound.

Carpet or mattresses applied to walls

While rugs do help absorb noise, they have no soundproofing value, and anyway, who wants to vacuum walls? As for mattresses, well, unless you want to bounce off them, be aware that you’d have to cover entire walls as well as caulk and seal every crevice between them before they’d have any soundproofing qualities at all. Other issues, such as smells and bedbugs, will remain—for the breadth of this article—unaddressed.

Could it be that no one has ever taken a picture of the DIY soundproofing project that entails nailing mattresses to walls?

Egg cartons as soundproofing material

This one might bring to the mind’s eye a music-loving, budget-constrained young adult in their first apartment. Similar to acoustic foam in shape, egg cartons could be used to break up flat wall surfaces, and thereby help absorb sound rather than bouncing it back to the listener. The cartons would somewhat reduce echo, but then, so would curtains, furniture, and anything else in the room. But their soundproofing efficacy is nil.

Soundproof foam

For starters, this myth is based on a common misnomer. When people talk about soundproof foam, what they’re really referring to is acoustic foam, which can be an effective product … but not a soundproofing one.

If you’ve ever shopped for a raincoat, you’ll have seen labels reading waterproof or water-resistant. But water-absorbent? Good quality in a kitchen sponge, not so much in rain gear. Similarly, soundproof ± sound absorbent. Sound absorbent materials, such as acoustic foam, prevent sound waves from bouncing and echoing within a space by obstructing their paths. Lightweight, porous materials make sense.

Actual soundproofing, however, is a matter of blocking sound, and that requires heavy, dense and thick materials best applied in multi-layered assemblies so that sound won’t penetrate or pass through. Soundproofing a wall necessitates modification of the wall itself.

Soundproof paint

At a thickness of 30 to 40 thousandths of an inch, this specialty paint may absorb some mid-range sound waves but fails to do so with lower or higher ends of the sound spectrum. Coupled with a very limited colour selection, this negligible result suggests your acoustic optimizing dollars would be better spent elsewhere.

Soundproof wallpaper

Essentially wallpaper backed with foam or similar sound deadening material, like soundproof paint, it’s too thin to do much of anything aside from reduce room-to-room residential noise transmission.

Dark paint

Quite honestly, I’ve only chosen to include this one because significant numbers of people out there actually believe it to be true. A dark room may look quieter, but tell that to your ears.

Cellulose Insulation

Its thermal value notwithstanding, cellulose insulation stuffed into your walls might as well be the dollars it cost. If you notice a theme emerging here, well, thanks for the attentive read. While fluffy, lightweight materials may absorb some sound, they can’t replace the dense, heavy materials that actually work such as, say, an extra sheet of drywall. At 2.31 pounds per square foot, a 5/8” thick sheet is effective both in terms of cost and function.

Foam Rubber

Great in the form of yoga mats, sure, but we give it a resounding “No!” for use as a soundproofing material. It degrades over time, and have we mentioned that it’s extremely flammable?

So what does work?

If you’re starting to think that the very concept of soundproofing is a myth unto itself, you’re not altogether wrong. No space is 100% soundproof. Professional recording studios come close, but most rooms don’t require that level of sound control.

Bearing this in mind, and armed with an understanding that many “simple tricks” really are myths, consider the following options that actually can help mitigate the impact of noise:

Earbuds. Affordable and close as your nearest hardware store or pharmacy, these little units prove remarkably effective in keeping noise out of the inner space between your ears. Almost all ear plugs come with a Noise Reduction Rating, or NRR, that indicates how much sound the plugs muffle.
White noise machines. These devices essentially drown out noise by distracting you with pleasant or innocuous sounds such as rushing waterfalls or wind blowing through trees, and many people swear by them as effective sleep aids.
Acoustic door and window seal kits. If replacing your doors or windows with heavier alternatives isn’t feasible, check out How to Soundproof Your Apartment to learn about how such products might help.

At BAP Acoustics, we feel that myths belong to the worlds of art and literature, not sneaking around under the guise of scientific fact. And we quite enjoy dispelling them! So if a supposed solution to your acoustical problems seems too good to be true, well, chances are … Please feel free to contact us with any sound-related questions you may have or issues to clarify.

Feb 28 2019

CrossFit vs Cross Neighbours: Building a fitness centre? Now’s the time to plan for noise mitigation.

Whether it’s elevating home organization to a zen-like practice or hurling truck tires around an echo chamber, some trends take root virtually over night and blossom at length despite their glaring (or, more fittingly blaring) issues.

Vancouver, recognized as one of the most expensive real estate markets in Canada, is almost as well-known for its fitness enthusiasts. Despite our relatively mild climate, however, we’re also known for copious rain that sends the health-conscious indoors to work out. As continually high property costs give rise to increased mixed-use development, gyms, fitness centres, and (in CrossFit parlance) boxes crop up in structures from empty nester spare rooms to office and apartment buildings.

We get the appeal of owning a fitness space, and if you’re building one, now’s the time to plan and implement effective noise mitigation strategies. And unless you’re designing a yoga studio, note that …

If you build it, they will sweat. Loudly.

Whether they’re commercial or residential, neighbours are a fact of city life, and it’s worth planning for a harmonious coexistence with them. Before introducing a fitness centre—particularly a weight-focused or high intensity one—into your building, consider the building’s foundation and structure. If possible, locate your facility on grade or below, away from residences and offices. Sound and vibration can travel in all directions, so bear that in mind before constructing walls, floors, and ceilings. Investing in suitable materials pre-construction will prove far more cost-effective than making inevitable, expensive, and sometimes inadequate upgrades soon after noise complaints give you no choice.

*Clang, clang, clang went the free weights …*

Essentially barebones gyms, boxes (as their communities call them) host CrossFit classes. Upwards of 10,000 affiliate boxes around the world attract fitness devotees looking for an intense and varied workout that incorporates all kinds of weights (including kettle bells and tire trucks) and yields fast results. Low start-up costs, meanwhile, appeal to potential business owners. A $1,000 weekend seminar, an essay and a $3,000 annual affiliate fee are all it takes to use the brand name.

Get outside the “box”

Success stories abound, sure, but so do cautionary tales. For her Observer article Persecuted CrossFit Gyms Forced to Flee After Noise Complaints, lifestyle reporter Jordyn Taylor interviewed several CrossFit owners who’d, without even violating noise ordinances, received so many vitriolic—even violent—complaints they were forced to relocate. At press time, Austin, Texas owner Valerie Hunt thought her facility BMV CrossFit would remain beyond reproach in a commercial zone. But she was woefully mistaken:

(R)esidents nearby are complaining they can hear people grunting and dropping weights. They’ve taken the matter to City Council, as well as launched a vicious attack against the gym.
“I had to get my phone number changed,” Ms. Hunt told the Observer. “The texting turned really ugly—a lot of cussing [and] ‘We hate you’.”
Though Ms. Hunt said Austin’s City Council confirmed BVM hadn’t violated any noise ordinances, the neighbours’ complaints led the city to re-classify CrossFit as an outdoor sports and recreation activity, as opposed to a personal improvement service. That means Ms. Hunt must find a new space and convince her landlord to let her end her lease early.

A good take-away from the story above? Compliance with codes, bylaws, and ordinances doesn’t necessarily equal adequate soundproofing.

Effective pre-construction acoustic strategies

Wall isolation

Locate your hotel gym, for example, as far away from guest rooms as you can. A full-sized commercial facility should be detached, if that’s an option.

Sound-reducing floor underlayment

Install a layer of cushioning and support between a floor and subfloor. Since most floors require underlayment in any case, it pays to plan ahead and invest in a sound-reducing product rather than the standard kind. Installing sound-reducing underlayment beneath existing floors involves considerably more work … and expense. Definitely consider this option if your gym is above an occupied space. Even without weights involved, exercise movement can be noisy.

*“Quiet enough for you now? Wish I’d talked to an acoustical engineer before signing that 5-year lease.”*

We realize that building from the ground up isn’t always possible, so if you’ve leased an existing space, a few noise control options are available. You can:

upgrade the separating wall (and potentially floor/ceiling) assemblies to reduce amplified music and instructor sound impact
install a high-quality resilient floor surface specifically chosen for area use (e.g. free weights, weight machines, treadmills, etc.)
enhance user experience and marginally benefit adjacent spaces by introducing acoustic treatment (e.g. panels, hanging baffles) in the fitness space itself to reduce reverberation and hence the build up of reverberant sound.

Whatever your interest in fitness spaces, we invite you to contact us if you’d like to learn more about making those spaces acoustically friendly. Until then, enjoy your workout and don’t forget to hydrate!

Feb 03 2019

I Can Hear What You’re Thinking: Open-Plan Office Acoustics Demystified

By BAP Blogger

Graced with a temperate climate the rest of Canada might envy, we who inhabit the BC Lower Mainland can grow all sorts of goodies. The one thing we can’t grow, however, is more land … least of all in our most densely populated cities where, increasingly, white collar workers spend their shifts in open plan offices. The job market, career opportunities, and workplaces of today often differ from that of 10+ years ago. Many business people, particularly young entrepreneurs, are strapped for capital and on the lookout for more affordable alternatives to traditional office design, so open plans are becoming more and more popular.

The one thing we can’t grow is more land … least of all in our most densely populated cities.

Meant to foster collaboration, open plan office spaces do present challenges around privacy and focused individual work. In the absence of well-designed acoustics, people find their own solutions. Headphone wear—publicly an almost universal symbol denoting “Stay outta my face”—may convey an unintentionally negative message in the workplace, when all we really mean is “I need to drown out the chatter so I can focus and get some work done.”

*Quiet time. It’s not just for introverts.*

Headphone wear—publicly an almost universal symbol denoting “Stay outta my face”—may convey an unintentionally negative message in the workplace.

So how do we plan spaces that accommodate the dual needs of teams and individuals? Hint: The word plan is key. If at all possible, it’s best to address these factors during the space planning and design stages.

Open-plan acoustics: the hows & whys

Reverberation control based on room shape should inform open-plan office acoustical design. How will planning affect the propagation of sound and, by extension, acoustic comfort?

Roughly 70 percent of all employees in open work areas report that the biggest impact on their productivity is the conversations of their coworkers.

Well, while talk may or may not be cheap, it’s definitely the stand-out culprit in poorly designed open office spaces. “Roughly 70 percent of all employees in open work areas report that the biggest impact on their productivity is the conversations of their coworkers,” according to engineer Steve Johnson’s Work Design Magazine article, Addressing Workplace Acoustics In The Open Office.

*“**I’m** not shouting, Chatty Chester next door is ordering lunch!”*

If there’s anything more annoying than overhearing a phone conversation you don’t need or want to hear, it’s only hearing half of it. These halfalogues, as they’ve been euphemistically dubbed, are among the most enticingly disruptive auditory workplace distractions and involuntary listeners’ brains take time to refocus on tasks at hand. “Studies have shown that it can take as much as 20 minutes to fully regain concentration on complex tasks once distracted,” Steve Johnson writes. “Once distracted, error rates increase as work is resumed.”

Frustratingly, this happens even when people speak quietly in what Johnson describes as a “creepy quiet” space. “Most modern commercial office buildings have very quiet background sound levels,” he states. “When conversations begin in a creepy quiet environment, they can be easily overheard at distances of 50-60 feet. This does not allow for productive work.”

*And then there’s Creepy Quiet … Could you work here?*

So it stands to reason that people who need to communicate sit near each other, yet separate acoustically from other work groups to a degree that affords everyone adequate freedom from noisy disruption.

Open office planners should consider factors and options such as:

work station placement
a sound-absorbent ceiling
floor and wall materials (concrete floors, for example, deflect sound and prove especially bothersome in high-ceilinged rooms)
furniture material and surfaces (again, hard surfaces deflect sound)
adequately tall sound-absorbent work station partitions
silent and collaborative work areas
work methodology and technical aids
background noise
sound masking (these systems subtly increase the level of background noise to reduce auditory workplace distractions and enhance privacy levels)
- The output of such systems must be carefully configured. Too low in volume, and the masking system may fail to provide sufficient masking. Too high, and there is a risk of increasing worker annoyance and lowering productivity. Generally speaking, background noise levels in an open office should not exceed 45dBA. In a cellular office, a 40dBA background noise level is more suitable. (From our 2015 blog post, Office Acoustics: Speech Privacy and Security)

An essential starting point

The list above provides a general overview of some measures we can take in creating an acoustically ergonomic open work space, but all the suggestions are rendered moot without proper ceiling treatment.

A good sound-absorbent ceiling, generally installed as low as possible for optimal acoustics, lowers sound levels by reducing reverberation. In turn, shorter distances are required between work stations to ensure their inhabitants’ speech won’t disturb others.

Measure twice, cut once

With all this in mind, again, the best time to address noise control is at the design stage of the office, when we can review the client’s privacy/security requirements and then work with the architect to develop appropriate sound mitigation. But whether you’re at that stage or dealing with an existing space in need of acoustical treatment, please contact us. We’d be happy to discuss your needs.

Nov 30 2018

I don’t like the tone of your strata investigation: How to make noise about noise, Part 1

When we think of noise so bothersome it inspires formal complaints, we’re likely to think in terms of its level, AKA volume or loudness. Your neighbour cranks on her music loudly enough to impress DJs, for example, and its sound transmits through your floors, walls, or ceiling, causing disturbance.

You put up with it for a while in the hopes she won’t do it often, but she does. Sure, you may quite enjoy Beyoncé’s edgy new album, but not so much at 3 a.m. on a weeknight when her mezzo soprano range registers more as high-pitch than sublime. So you explain the situation to your neighbour and she graciously turns down her tunes. How easy was that? You didn’t even have to approach your strata about it!

Would that all noise complaints were so easily addressed and resolved!

When the offending noise transmits to a residential unit from common property—to use the parlance of strata living—unexpected layers of complexity can develop. In early 2014, a Lower Mainland strata council hired BAP to conduct noise assessments based on an owner’s complaints about noise entering her suite from the building’s hot tub mechanical room directly below. The hot tub requires two pumps to function.

The jet pump activates when someone is using the hot tub, in this case off and on daily during the hot tub’s operation hours of 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The circulation pump, causing noise that the owner describes as “like a refrigerator, except louder” is on constantly.

Our measurements and analysis indicated the presence of low level (but clearly audible) tonal noise in the affected unit. Of course “noise” is a very subjective term; not the least of that subjectivity stems from its components and how they’re measured:

Decibels are units of loudness measurement, with approximately 10dB being the quietest our ears pick up, and 130dB considered painful.
A “weighted decibel scale”, or dB(A), entails adjusting meters to more sensitively reflect how the human ear perceives noise. Normal conversation falls within the 50–60 dB(A) range.
Pitch, or tone, relate to frequency, or how many times a second particles vibrate. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz).

Although published guidance on the impact of tonal noise, especially at low levels, is scarce, we believe that HVAC-related background noise should be free from audible tones such as the hum of a refrigerator … or, say, a hot tub pump.

Following our initial measurements based on the more problematic circulation pump, we recommended replacing cold water supply lines with flexible braided hoses. Our recommendations were implemented, resulting in significant noise reduction. As noted in the Civil Resolution Tribunal’s publicly accessible ruling, “Repeat noise measurements were taken, with the circulation Pump noise having reduced by 8dB at 350Hz. The resulting noise ‘would be perceived as being nearly half as loud’ as before the introduction of the flexible hoses.”

Alas, “significant” isn’t synonymous with “problem solved”, and we were asked to conduct further measurements a few months later. Tune in next month for Part 2 of a story that continues to unfold four years after we took on our role in it.