The spatial uniformity of an electronic sound masking system in an open-plan space

2020 ◽  
Vol 148 (4) ◽  
pp. 2440-2440
Author(s):  
Joonhee Lee ◽  
Farideh Zarei ◽  
Roderick Mackenzie ◽  
Vincent Le Men
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Sound ◽  
Spatial Uniformity ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Sound Masking

Spatial uniformity tolerances for sound masking systems in open-plan offices

2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (1) ◽  
pp. 5643-5649
Author(s):  
Roderick Mackenzie ◽  
Farideh Zarei ◽  
Vincent Le Men
Keyword(s):  
Sound Field ◽  
Sound Level ◽  
Fine Grid ◽  
Office Space ◽  
Ambient Sound ◽  
Spatial Uniformity ◽  
Field Uniformity ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Discrete Measurement ◽  
Sound Masking

Electronic sound masking systems raise the ambient sound level in offices to a controlled minimum sound level in order to increase speech privacy and reduce distractions. Sound masking systems are calibrated to provide the most uniform sound field achievable, as a spatially non-uniform masking sound field could result in occupant perception and uneven speech privacy conditions. Tolerances for acceptable spatial uniformity vary between specifiers, and may be based on different evaluation methods using only a few discrete measurement points to represent an entire office space. However, the actual uniformity of a masking sound field across an office, and the parameters influencing it, has not been widely investigated. Thus, this study aims to investigate the masking sound uniformity in a typical open-plan office space using fine-grid measurements conforming to measurement method of ASTM E1573-18. Percentages of measured locations where the sound pressure levels were within specified tolerances (with increments of 0.5 dB) were calculated using the measured 1/3 octave band levels. The research also utilized geometric acoustical simulations to investigate how physical office parameters (number of loudspeakers, partition heights, ceiling absorption, and diffusion characteristics) affect the sound field uniformity of the sound masking system.

Field study for the evaluation of the acoustic quality of open-plan offices

2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (4) ◽  
pp. 2544-2549
Author(s):  
Patrick Chevret ◽  
Thomas Bonzom ◽  
Lucas Lenne ◽  
Laurent Brocolini ◽  
Julien Marchand
Keyword(s):  
Service Industry ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Occupational Accidents ◽  
Work Organisation ◽  
Open Spaces ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Sound Masking

Even if the global health crisis is currently changing the work organisation in offices in the service industry, the problem of noise in open plan offices remains a major challenge with regard to occupational health and well-being. Since 2012, the French National Research and Safety Institute for the Prevention of Occupational Accidents and Diseases (INRS) has been carrying out acoustic surveys in French open-plan offices by measuring both some usual indicators of empty offices (Tr, D2S, Lp4m, rc, Lp) and also the ambient noise levels in activity. In addition, GABO questionnaires have been proposed to employees to assess their perception of the noise environment. So far, 50 open spaces were evaluated, with more or less data collected depending on the situation encountered. Approximately 1,400 employees have already answered the questionnaire. All of the sites visited cover the entire set of activities described by the ISO 22955 standard. An analysis of the links between the acoustic parameters and the perception of employees was carried out. This analysis provides additional information to the studies on the choice of acoustic descriptors and on the use of sound masking systems that aim to control background noise to reduce noise disturbance due to intelligible conversations.

The do’s and don’ts of electronic sound masking

2013 ◽  
Vol 134 (5) ◽  
pp. 3970-3970
Author(s):  
Roman Wowk
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Sound ◽  
Sound Masking

scholarly journals Long-term effects of the use of a sound masking system in open-plan offices: A field study

2020 ◽  
Vol 158 ◽  
pp. 107049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Lenne ◽  
Patrick Chevret ◽  
Julien Marchand
Keyword(s):  
Field Study ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Sound Masking

Prediction of the effectiveness of a sound-masking system in an open-plan office including the Lombard Effect

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yizhong Lei ◽  
Murray Hodgson
Keyword(s):  
Lombard Effect ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Sound Masking

Prediction of the Effectiveness of a Sound-Masking System in an Open-Plan Office Including the Lombard Effect

2013 ◽  
Vol 99 (5) ◽  
pp. 729-736
Author(s):  
Yizhong Lei ◽  
Murray Hodgson
Keyword(s):  
Lombard Effect ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Sound Masking

Spatial uniformity of backKround masking system in open plan offices

1975 ◽  
Vol 57 (S1) ◽  
pp. S47-S47
Author(s):  
D. A. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Uniformity ◽  
Open Plan

Effective sound masking for speech privacy in open plan offices

2008 ◽  
Vol 123 (5) ◽  
pp. 2971-2971
Author(s):  
Joel Lewitz
Keyword(s):  
Open Plan ◽  
Sound Masking

The effect of sound masking on employees' acoustic comfort and performance in open-plan offices in Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (1) ◽  
pp. 5678-5683
Author(s):  
Roderick Mackenzie ◽  
Joonhee Lee ◽  
Vincent Le Men ◽  
Farideh Zarei
Keyword(s):  
Work Performance ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Sound Level ◽  
Sound Levels ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Acoustic Comfort ◽  
Sound Environment ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Sound Masking ◽  
And Performance

Sound masking systems are commonly used in open-plan offices to generate a controlled minimum level of background sound, in order to decrease the signal-to-noise ratio of intrusive speech and blend out transient office noise. However, a question in the acoustical design of offices is whether the self-generated noise of occupants may alone be sufficient to provide the background sound level conditions necessary to achieve similar levels of speech privacy and acoustic comfort as sound masking systems. This study examines the relationship between occupant-perceived speech privacy and acoustic comfort under three different acoustic scenarios (no masking, controlled 42 dBA, and 47 dBA masking sound levels). The study was conducted pre-COVID-19 in two separate open-plan offices located in Quebec, Canada that at the time were close to full occupancy. Employees completed subjective questionnaires before and after each change in conditions, focusing on how the sound environment impacted their comfort and work performance during the study. Statistical results show that the occupants were significantly more satisfied during the two sound masking conditions in comparison to the no-masking condition, where only the occupant-generated and exterior/mechanical system noise was present as the background sound. Implications for open-plan offices with lower occupancy conditions post-COVID-19 are discussed.

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