Sound is one of three key ingredients that contribute to a comfortable building environment. Prerequisite to an effective specification of sound power levels are (a) acoustical analyses of the HVAC system layout and building construction, and (b) an understanding of the single-number descriptors used to define the acoustical nature of an environment.

The inclusion of sound performance in an equipment specification should automatically suggest an acoustical analysis. Ideally, the analysis should be made before the specification is written. Acoustical requirements can then be included in terms of sound power, facilitating an "apples-to-apples" comparison of the products offered by various manufacturers.

Omitting this step means that each bidder must conduct their own analysis ... and each will make their own assumptions about how the building's construction will affect that analysis.

By Dave Guckelberger, applications engineer, and Brenda Bradley, information designer, Trane. If you'd like to comment on this article, send a note to Trane, Engineers Newsletter Editor, 3600 Pammel Creek Road, La Crosse, WI 54601.

Continue on to A Few Acoustics Terms You Should Know.