PDF hosted at the Radboud Repository of the Radboud University Nijmegen The following full text is a publisher's version. For additional information about this publication click this link. http://hdl.handle.net/2066/64328 Please be advised that this information was generated on 2021-09-23 and may be subject to change. PROGRAM OF The 147th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America New York, New York • Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers • 24–28 May 2004 1a MON. AM NOTE: All Journal articles and Letters to the Editor are peer reviewed before publication. Program abstracts, however, are not reviewed before publication, since we are prohibited by time and schedule. MONDAY MORNING, 24 MAY 2004 ROYAL BALLROOM A, 7:40 A.M. TO 12:00 NOON Session 1aAA Architectural Acoustics and Noise: Effect of Room Acoustic Environment on Human Productivity and Performance Rendell F. Torres, Cochair Architectural Acoustics Program, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture, 110 8th Street, Troy, New York 12180-3590 Lily M. Wang, Cochair Architectural Engineering, University of Nebraska—Lincoln, 200B Peter Kiewit Institute, 1110 South 67th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68182-0681 Chair’s Introduction—7:40 Invited Papers 7:45 1aAA1. Assessment of impact of acoustic and nonacoustic parameters on performance and well-being. Volker Mellert, Reinhard Weber ͑Inst. for Phys., Acoust., Oldenburg Univ., D-2611, Oldenburg, Germany͒, and Christian Nocke ͑Akustikbuero Oldenburg, Germany͒ It is of interest to estimate the influence of the environment in a specific work place area on the performance and well-being of people. Investigations have been carried out for the cabin environment of an airplane and for class rooms. Acoustics is only one issue of a variety of environmental factors, therefore the combined impact of temperature, humidity, air quality, lighting, vibration, etc. on human perception is the subject of psychophysical research. Methods for the objective assessment of subjective impressions have been developed for applications in acoustics for a long time, e.g., for concert hall acoustics, noise evaluation, and sound design. The methodology relies on questionnaires, measurement of acoustic parameters, ear-related signal processing and analysis, and on corre- lation of the physical input with subjective output. Methodology and results are presented from measurements of noise and vibration, temperature and humidity in aircraft simulators, and of reverberation, coloring, and lighting in a primary school, and of the environ- mental perception. ͓The work includes research with M. Klatte, A. Schick from the Psychology Department of Oldenburg University, and M. Meis from Hoerzentrum Oldenburg GmbH and with the European Project HEACE ͑for partners see www.heace.org͒.͔ 8:05 1aAA2. A review of the combined effects of thermal and noise conditions on human performance. Richard A. Moscoso, Lily M. Wang, and Amy Musser ͑Architectural Eng. Prog., Univ. of Nebraska–Lincoln, Peter Kiewit Inst., 1110 S. 67th St., Omaha, NE 68182-0681, [email protected]͒ Human perception and annoyance due to background noise has been the subject of much research. A great deal of work has also been done to identify conditions that produce an acceptable thermal environment for building occupants. The experience of occupants in indoor environments, however, is much more complex than can be represented by thermal comfort or the acoustic environment in isolation. Occupants normally experience a mix of thermal, auditory, visual, and olfactory stimuli that combines to form an impression of the environment. This paper is specifically interested in how building occupants trade off between acoustic and thermal comfort. 2369 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 115, No. 5, Pt. 2, May 2004 147th Meeting: Acoustical Soceity of America 2369 Downloaded 02 Feb 2012 to 131.174.248.116. Redistribution subject to ASA license or copyright; see http://asadl.org/journals/doc/ASALIB-home/info/terms.jsp Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems in buildings are often adjusted by building users to arrive at a more comfortable temperature, but this change may also produce more noise. Previous studies on the interaction effects between temperature and noise on human performance are reviewed in this presentation, followed by a discussion of the authors’ current work in this area. 8:25 1aAA3. Ventilation noise and its effects on annoyance and performance. Ulf Landstrom ͑Natl. Inst. for Working Life North, Box 7654, SE-907 13 Umea, Sweden, [email protected]͒ In almost every room environment, ventilation acts as a more or less prominent part of the noise exposure. The contribution to the overall sound environment is a question not only of the way in which the ventilation system itself functions, but also a question of the prominence of other contemporary sound sources such as speech, equipment, machines, and external noises. Hazardous effects due to ventilation noise are most prominent in offices, hospitals, control rooms, classrooms, conference rooms, and other types of silent areas. The effects evoked by ventilation noise have also been found to be related to the type of activity being conducted. Annoyance and performance thus not only seemed to be linked to the physical character of exposure, i.e., noise level, frequency characteristics, and length of exposure, but also mental and manual activity, complexity, and monotony of the work. The effects can be described in terms of annoyance, discomfort, and fatigue, with consequences on performance and increased mental load. The silent areas where venti- lation noise may be most frequently experienced are often synonymous with areas and activities most sensitive to the exposure. 8:45 1aAA4. The relevance of low-frequency sound properties for performance and pleasantness. Kerstin Persson Waye and Johanna Bengtsson ͑Dept. of Environ. Medicine, The Sahlgrenska Acad. of Gothenburg Univ., Box 414, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden, [email protected]͒ The sound environment in the workplace has been found to influence performance, stress, mood, and well-being after work. However few studies can provide dose-response relationships and little is known of the importance of sound-quality aspects for adverse effects on critical tasks or task requirements. We have, during the last 8 years, been engaged in studies investigating the critical performance effects due to the presence of low frequencies ͑20–200 Hz͒ in sounds. The main hypotheses on critical effects derived from studies in the general environment were that low-frequency noise induced great annoyance, concentration difficulties, and was difficult to filter out or habituate to. On the other hand, results from truck drivers indicated that low-frequency sounds may lead to reduced alertness and increased sleepiness. In total, three studies were designed with regard to these hypotheses, all of them with the intention to be applicable to office and control room environment, using equivalent A-weighted sound-pressure levels of 40 and 45 dB. The fourth study investigated the importance of sound properties in low-frequency sounds for the perception of pleasant- ness. The results will be presented and discussed in relation to noise assessment aspects. ͓Work supported by Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research.͔ 9:05 1aAA5. Relating human productivity and annoyance to indoor noise criteria systems. Erica E. Bowden and Lily M. Wang ͑Architectural Eng. Prog., Univ. of NebraskaϪLincoln, 245 PKI, 1110 S. 67th St., Omaha, NE 68182, [email protected]͒ The goal of this research is to determine a noise criteria system which best relates the effects of background noise to human productivity and annoyance. A number of indoor noise criteria systems are currently used to rate the background noise in built environments, including noise criteria ͑NC͒, balanced noise criteria ͑NCB͒, room criteria ͑RC͒, room criteria Mark II ͑RC-Mark II͒, and others. Many questions still remain about the accuracy of these predictors in assessing human response to background noise under the variety of ambient noise situations encountered. To support the use of any individual criterion, subjective testing was performed under a range of background noise situations and statistically related to the various noise criteria predictors listed above. Subjects completed an annoyance survey and performed typing and proofreading tasks in an acoustically controlled environment under 12 simulated background noise settings. These settings varied across three sound levels and four spectral qualities. Subjective testing methodology and results are presented. ͓Work supported by INCE and ASHRAE.͔ 9:25 1aAA6. An investigation of the effects of interference speech on short-term memory for verbally presented prose. Dana M. Lodico ͑Illingworth & Rodkin, Inc., 505 Petaluma Blvd. S., Petaluma, CA 94952͒, Rendell R. Torres, Yasushi Shimizu, and Claudia Hunter ͑Rensselaer Polytech. Inst., Troy, NY 12180-3590͒ This study investigates the effects of interference speech and the built acoustical environment on human performance, and the possibility of designing spaces to architecturally meet the acoustical goals of office and classroom environments. The effects of room size, geometry, and acoustical parameters on human performance are studied through human subject testing. Three experiments are used to investigate the effects of distracting background speech on short-term memory for verbally presented prose under constrained laboratory