Presented by co-author Mandy Kachur of Acoustics By Design located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Dan and Jeanette represented BRC Acoustics with a presentation at the joint meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and the Institute of Noise Control Engineering in Baltimore, MD. The presentation entitled “New acoustical materials for a new world: the sustainable design transformations of the architectural acoustics industry” focused on new, repurposed, reformulated, recycled, and reused materials and products which acoustical consultants specify for inclusion in sustainable architectural designs. For instance, utilizing clear or translucent acoustical materials for absorption or sound isolation will support the day lighting trend of today’s architectural designs. Employing recycled cotton or polyester insulation in an acoustical design can contribute to the overall recycled materials content of a project while refinishing & reusing existing acoustical ceiling tiles can provide savings in the overall project budget without impacting acoustical performance. These new acoustical materials fit the bill for those owners and architects that want to incorporate acoustical performance in sustainable design.

Here is to another successful Spring Pledge Drive with our local National Public Radio station KUOW! The BRC crew helped man the phones as callers pledged their support & reached the program goal. As always, we had a great time and look forward to the next one. 

Phones ringing off the hook!

Good times!

Shocking!

Goal accomplished!

Dotting the i's and crossing the t's

Thom Mullins, CTS
Senior Consultant
Audiovisual, Sound, & Acoustics

The design industry is in the midst of a sea change as it moves from 2D CAD to BIM. New software is being written for BIM that could allow more accurate models to be programmed, but our industry - acoustics, AV, and sound systems design - has already done a great deal of work in modeling the acoustical environment and how sound systems behave that will prove useful. What are the challenges that lie ahead? Are we ready to take them on? Find out at ProAV Magazine from Thom Mullins’ latest article, “A Window of Opportunity.”

An early arrival at the office was rewarded with this view of sunrise behind Mt. Rainier as seen from our break room.  Krispy Kreme beckons in the foreground…

Worship spaces can be among the most difficult to get to work properly for acoustics and technology.   Many times the church is in transition between worship styles - moving from a more liturgical style of worship that requires longer reverberation to a more modern style that benefits from a shorter reverberation signature.  Typically, this is overlaid by both changes in instrumentation as well as a leap in the complexity of the technical systems (audio and video presentation) needed to support this change in style.  And last, but not least, is the need to integrate all this with the architectural vision of the facility.

You can find out more about how BRC Acoustics worked with the owner and the architect of Bethany Community Church to address these issues in the following article, written by Thom Mullins, in Religious Product News.

By Jeanette Hesedahl

Let the games begin! As the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament gets underway, we at BRC are rapidly making predictions & filling in brackets to see who the next office champion is.

Good luck to all!

By Dennis Noson

BRC Acoustics has, for nearly 50 years, provided noise measurement and noise control designs for Seattle-area schools, with the goal of reducing the impact of noise on classrooms at all grade levels. Our most recent involvement was with a recently constructed elementary school which replaced the old school on the same site. The schools of this district are located in neighborhoods surrounding the high-noise environment of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. We collected noise data at the school during the Christmas holiday break in classes—active kids are not something within the scope of noise control!—and have determined that the school met its FAA-mandated noise goal, an average 45 dBA interior noise level from departing aircraft.

The design challenges to achieve this noise goal were primarily the low-altitude, high noise levels of commercial flights, typically around 2000 feet and noise levels with maximums well above 80 dBA for some departures. Flight are very frequent, up to 50 flight operations per hour during the busiest times.

BRC worked with the school architect to take advantage of the natural noise shielding that results from site planning and building orientation, and from that base we developed building assemblies for walls, windows, and roof construction which met the 45 dBA noise goal at the least cost, overall. In our predictions of exterior assembly noise performance, BRC balanced the noise path contributions of all the exterior surfaces as well as the intrusion of aircraft noise via outside air and relief air openings needed by the school’s mechanical system.

The results of our noise monitoring confirmed the design’s balanced approach, and we expect that the teachers and administrative staff will enjoy the experience of a quieter instructional environment. Perhaps the students will too!

We know it’s a bit early, but we at BRC are looking forward to our Spring volunteering activities! Answering phones at the KUOW Spring Pledge Drive & volunteering in our own SODO district for spring clean-up on Earth Day for starters.

Take a look below for last year’s pledge drive highlights, and stay tuned for more updates…

Twice a year, we volunteer at local public radio station KUOW by answering pledge phone calls.  We love to participate in a good cause, and we helped take $25,000 in pledges.  Not to mention that it always winds up being a lot of fun!  Here are some photos from this morning:

See the rest of the photos on our Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brc_acoustics/sets/72157615940995984/