“I Didn’t Know You Did That”
March 1, 2004
If we just had a nickel for every time we hear “I didn’t know you did that!”… Most recently, a very good client was sharing an elevator ride with us and mentioned he needed someone to do an audiovisual system
Quiet Floors
February 1, 2004
Floor systems in multifamily housing are getting thinner and lighter in weight. Both of these work against a successful acoustical design. To overcome this we are constantly looking at and reviewing new products. Something that has caught our eye is
Riverside County Boardroom Replacement Project
February 1, 2004
Due to the explosive growth of the county of Riverside a larger County Building was required to support the needs of the county taxpayers. Part of the new County Building included a new County Boardroom. The new Boardroom functions were,
Noise Criteria (NC) vs. Room Criteria (RC)
February 1, 2004
Quite often we are asked why does Thorburn Associates Inc. use Noise Criteria (NC) as opposed to Room Criteria (RC) during our mechanical system noise calculations. Both NC and RC are measures of mechanical system noise in a room. Noise
Acoustics and LEED / Sustainable Building
December 1, 2003
As many of you know, the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. It emphasizes state of the art strategies for five broad categories: sustainable
Classroom Acoustics
December 1, 2003
More than three-quarters of the teachers in a recent poll gave the acoustics in their classrooms a failing grade. The problem is most commonly a “signal to noise” ratio issue, which results in poor speech intelligibility. In general terms –
Retail Design
October 1, 2003
Themed Retail is a balance between saturation of exposure to audio and video stimuli in “teen” departments versus the peace and serenity of high-end jewelry/perfume departments. Far too often, the energetic, loud, vibrant, environment in a young teenager/juniors environment is
Acoustics for Live Theatre
October 1, 2002
The lights begin to dim, the audience takes their seats, voices lower, and all you can hear is the quiet rustle of theatre programs and an occasional cough as the audience waits in anticipation for the curtain to rise on
The Code of Silence
October 1, 2000
Maxwell Smart’s Cone of Silence was a nice idea. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to use such a device in today’s busy and energetic society? Well, for some types of noise it has been possible for a person
Environmental Acoustics: Is It Noise Or Is It Sound?
March 1, 2000
How loud is too loud? If you have ever dealt with this question, personally or professionally, you know that the answer is difficult to determine. All kinds of factors, from the time of day to personal sensitivity, influence the subjective