Measurement of acoustic attenuation in workrooms: Nordtest Project 1274-96

Experimental work has been done in nine halls with volumes ranging from 693 to 123.978 cubic metres. The equivalent absorption area has been determined from absorption coefficients of the surfaces, calculated from reverberation time measurements and estimated from sound pressure level measurements in the stationary sound field produced by an omnidirectional sound source in the room. The project has shown that there is a need for a new alternative measuring method - the results based on the classical reverberation time measurements do not agree sufficiently well with the actual equivalent absorption areas in the rooms. But it has not been possible within the project to establish and verify an alternative method based on a simple measurement in the stationary sound field.