Simulation Model Assessment of a Sound Insulating Double Façade System with Openings for Natural Ventilation under Guidance of Laboratory Measurements

Abstract

Noise control and natural ventilation are two main building physics issues which have contradictory principles. While natural ventilation needs openings on the façade in order to let fresh air in, the desired acoustic insulation is provided with minimum openings or without any opening on the wall. This paper presents a comparison between the simulation model results and laboratory measurements of a double façade system which is proposed in order to minimize outdoor noise coming through façade openings in naturally ventilated buildings. The double façade with twenty five openable equal-size particleboard panels on each side was constructed as a full scale model in the laboratory and the same setup was modeled in a computer simulation program. Different parts from these two parallel walls were taken out and the effect of the distance between these openings on the sound reduction value of the system has been analyzed. After the measurements; materials, their sound absorption coefficients and the reverberation times of two rooms were calibrated in the simulation program accordingly and simulations were run in order to check if it would be possible to continue this research only with computer models. The results are compared and differences between the simulation and laboratory measurements are stated in this paper.