International Organization for Standardization

Acoustics - Field measurement of sound insulation in buildings and of building elements - Part 3: Facade sound insulation - First Edition
 N 16283-3

Annotation

This part of ISO 16283 specifies procedures to determine the airborne sound insulation of facade elements (element methods) and whole facades (global methods) using sound pressure measurements. These procedures are intended for room volumes in the range from 10 m3 to 250 m3 in the frequency range from 50 Hz to 5 000 Hz.

The test results can be used to quantify, assess, and compare the airborne sound insulation in unfurnished or furnished rooms where the sound field can or cannot approximate to a diffuse field. The measured airborne sound insulation is frequency-dependent and can be converted into a single number quantity to characterize the acoustic performance using the rating procedures in ISO 717-1.

The element methods aim to estimate the sound reduction index of a facade element, for example, a window. The most accurate element method uses a loudspeaker as an artificial sound source. Other less accurate element methods use available traffic noise. The global methods, on the other hand, aim to estimate the outdoor/indoor sound level difference under actual traffic conditions. The most accurate global methods use the actual traffic as sound source. A loudspeaker can be used as an artificial sound source when there is insufficient level from traffic noise inside the room. An overview of the methods is given in Table 1.

The element loudspeaker method yields an apparent sound reduction index which, under certain circumstances, can be compared with the sound reduction index measured in laboratories in accordance with ISO 10140. This method is the preferred method when the aim of the measurement is to evaluate the performance of a specified facade element in relation to its performance in the laboratory.