Marco Caniato

Impact Sound Pressure Level Performances of Basic Beam Floor Structures

In order to obtain reliable estimations of the impact sound insulation between rooms, it is necessary to know the acoustic performance of each element composing the floors. The contribution of the flanking transmissions, the attenuation of floating floors and the weighted normalized impact sound pressure level of the basic structure need to be determined in order to apply the simplified calculation method according to the EN ISO 12354-2 standard. With the aim of verifying the range of validity of the calculation method proposed by the EN ISO 12354-2 standard for typical basic beam floor structures, a research based on on-site measurements was conducted. This paper provides an analysis in terms of spectrum trend, predicted average weighted normalized impact sound pressure level and reduction of impact sound pressure level obtainable with a generic floating floor typology. The study can represent a starting point for a correct estimation of the impact sound insulation in new buildings and renovation plans.

Thermal and acoustic performance expectations on timber buildings

In recent years, building technologies have been developed in order to improve comfort and energy saving. European institutions and single countries firmly invite individuals to choose high energy-saving strategies in order to decrease carbon emissions and energy consumption. Examples could be found in thermal insulators added to façades and improvement of glazing performance. At present, two technologies are the most used in construction realization: traditional (concrete, masonry or in general heavyweight structure) or wood (timber, crosslam or in general timber lightweight structure). Designers, scientists and builders have their own opinions on these two topics, but good insulation performance are achievable with both of them. Nevertheless, for lay people as well as for designers, wooden structures seem more comfortable, reliable and insulated. Therefore, an international survey was realized in order to investigate what individuals expect from these two different construction technologies in terms of insulation performance. Results indicate that timber buildings stereotypes are confirmed for acoustic and thermal insulation and show how scientific communication may help to deal with new or untraditional constructions.

Low frequency noise and disturbance assessment methods: A brief literature overview and a new proposal

Several studies have presented the effects of environmental noise on communities, focusing attention on sleep time events. The noise introduced into a dwelling is mostly evaluated using the A-weighted sound pressure level (LAeq) as the only parameter to determine the perceived disturbance. Nevertheless, if noise is produced by activities or sources characterised by a low frequency contribution, the measurement of LAeq underestimates the real disturbance, in particular during sleep time. The aim of this contribution is to analyse the low frequency disturbance phenomenon into technical and scientific literature and to investigate if any possible objective method is available in order to assess noise disturbance inside dwellings.

The Royal Church of San Lorenzo in Turin: Guarino Guarini and the Baroque architectural acoustics

In 1666 the architect Guarino Guarini received from Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy, the appointment to build in Turin a new church dedicated to S. Lorenzo. The architect conceived a design in Baroque style with a very particular ribbed dome and this peculiarity is a very hard to find feature throughout Europe. Acoustics measurements were performed in S. Lorenzo in order to investigate how this unique architecture affects the response parameters used in architectural acoustics. Results are discussed in the paper, comparing to the methodology suggested by Cirillo and Martellotta in order to characterize the acoustics of churches.

Noise generated from large construction sites: Measurements and possible mitigations

In this study, the issue of noise arising from the activities of large construction sites is analysed. The problem is particularly significant when the sites are close to protected natural areas or to residential areas and also when the duration of the construction works is very large. The case of the construction of a mobile barrier system, known as the MoSE, for the safeguard of the city of Venice from intruding tidal waters, is here reported. Since the early beginning of the construction activities, in April 2005, noise emission monitoring was conducted in order to evaluate possible effects on the presence of bird communities in the surrounding areas and also to evaluate the noise disturbance in some of the residential buildings close to the sites. During the monitoring activity, it was possible to measure the noise levels, the noise spectra and spectrograms in real-time and occasionally even the audio signal for particular activities was recorded. The analysis of data collected in different periods de...

Bernardo Antonio Vittone: acoustics and architecture in the XVIII century

Contemporary critics have identified Savoy architect Bernardo Vittone as a major contributor to the establishment of the concept and experience of architecture as the ”art of construction” in the 18th century. Vittone grew and worked under the guidance of mathematician Guarino Guarini, whose mastery of theoretical and scientific aspects he was never credited to have matched. Vittone’s approach to architecture was mainly practical, his plans chiefly derived from the rules of mechanics and descriptive geometry. Experience was his main source of inspiration. Designs, plans, domes and vaults are but ways to achieve balance and harmony and so are precision and control of the relation between geometry and acoustics, architecture and music. In his book ”Alternative instructions on the civil Architecture” morover he included in the second appendix the ”Armonic instructions”, within a dissertation on the nature of sound, its propagation in open spaces, in closed ones and its relation with music. In this paper a commented overview is given matching his description of acoustics with present-day knowledge.