Data for sound pressure level prediction in lightweight constructions caused by structure-borne sound sources and their uncertainties.

When predicting sound pressure levels induced by structure-borne sound sources and describing the sound propagation path through the building structure as exactly as possible, it is necessary to characterize the vibration behavior of the structure-borne sound sources. In this investigation, the characterization of structure-borne sound sources was performed using the two-stage method (TSM) described in EN 15657. Four different structure-borne sound sources were characterized and subsequently installed in a lightweight test stand. The resulting sound pressure levels in an adjacent receiving room were measured. In the second step, sound pressure levels were predicted according to EN 12354-5 based on the parameters of the structure-borne sound sources. Subsequently, the predicted and the measured sound pressure levels were compared to obtain reliable statements on the achievable accuracy when using source quantities determined by TSM with this prediction method. In addition to the co-submitted article (Vogel et al., 2023), the sound pressure level prediction according to EN 12354-5 in detail is described. Furthermore, all data used are provided.

Dependencies of the indoor climate on the course of the seasons and derivation of regressions from long-term measurements.

A building's indoor climate is an essential input variable for a variety of building physics computational models, simulations, and analyses. Precise knowledge of the indoor climate is necessary to minimize the risk of mold or moisture damage and is required to ensure minimum heat insulation standards in buildings. Detailed data are especially necessary for the progressive application of transient calculations, for example, concerning thermal comfort or energy consumption. While the properties of building materials and the (local) outdoor climate are known, only rudimentary information about the dynamic indoor climate is available. Most existing information in the literature about indoor climate is fairly general and forgoes a differentiation between climatic region, occupancy profile, and the utilization of rooms. In this paper, we report on indoor climate measurements in naturally ventilated apartments over a period of 1 year. The measurement results complement the existing data to provide accurate indoor climate data in buildings. The measured values of indoor temperature and relative humidity serve to derive the dew point temperature and moisture load whereby dynamic time-dependent regression functions are determined for these parameters. The evaluations are carried out separately according to room use. The comparison of living rooms and bedrooms indicates a great influence of room use on the indoor climate in residential buildings. The determined indoor climate model can be used for the planning of buildings and simulations. The classification into living rooms and bedrooms makes it possible to take user behavior into account more realistically in building physics simulations. The minimum thermal insulation in residential buildings can also be checked and designed based on realistic data. The prediction interval describes the limits in which residential rooms are free of damage with a high probability. In this way, the indoor climate model describes an approach to examine and evaluate simulation results regarding condensation risk and mold damage in naturally ventilated rooms.

Noise in an intensive care unit.

Patients and staff in hospitals are exposed to a complex sound environment with rather high noise levels. In intensive care units, the main noise sources are hospital staff on duty and medical equipment, which generates both operating noise and acoustic alarms. Although noise in most cases is produced during activities for the purpose of saving life, noise can induce significant changes in the depth and quality of sleep and negatively affect health in general. Results of a survey of hospital staff are presented, as well as measurements in two German hospital wards: a standard two-bed room and a special intermediate care unit (IMC-Unit), each in a different intensive care unit (ICU). Sound pressure data were collected over a 48 hour period and converted into different levels (L(AFeq), L(AFmax) L(AFmin), L(AF 5%)), as well as a rating level L(Ar), which is used to take tonality and impulsiveness into account. An analysis of the survey and the measured data, together with a comparison of thresholds of national and international regulations and standards describe the acoustic situation and its likely noise effects on staff and patients.