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Goal: To create a comfortable environment and to minimize the risk of overhearing conversations in adjacent rooms, ensuring patient privacy.
- Related Codes & Standards
- Tips/Considerations
- Recommended reverberation time is between 0.6 and 1 second.
- Absorptive materials will most likely be necessary for the ceiling.
- Even if the reverberation time is optimally controlled, problematic reflections from the walls can be an issue. Parallel reflective surfaces can cause an annoying condition called flutter echo or standing wave. Ideally, at least two non-parallel walls can be treated with acoustically absorptive material. It might not be necessary to completely treat the wall as long as the critical zone (normally from 3'-7') is treated with a material that has an NRC of at least 0.50, ideally at least 0.80.
- Draperies typically provide very little, if any, absorption.
- Beware of potential noise impact to your space from exterior sources and/or excessive HVAC noise. To help protect your design, the NC level should not exceed 25 to 35. When specifying NC, specify an actual rating, such as NC 30, rather than a range, such as NC 25-30. Although specifying a lower number will ensure minimal background noise, it might be cost prohibitive to achieve. Be realistic about the amount of acceptable noise and the project's budget when specifying an NC level.
- If confidentiality or privacy is an issue, you need to be concerned with the isolation quality of the wall. Even if you specify a high STC rating for the wall, it will not allow for privacy if the wall only extends to the ceiling, or just above the ceiling. For confidentiality, the wall must extend to, and seal to, the deck. The STC rating of a wall only refers to how well a section of that wall performs in a laboratory and does not necessarily indicate how well the system will perform in the field. Specifying an NIC rating can help ensure the desired isolation level.
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