Building physics

Acoustical engineering consulting

Good acoustics play an important role in the overall comfort and well-being we experience when inside a building. We offer consulting services in the area of acoustical design that will help you to ensure a pleasant and healthy ambience, as well as greater work and leisure comfort, in your new or renovated building.

Noise control is an important design parameter, especially in densely populated urban settings. Suitable measures must be implemented to ensure that the noise generated on your own property does not diminish the acoustic atmosphere of neighbouring properties and vice versa.

Reaching an optimal alignment between the structural features of a building and the building's use is an essential step in the design process. It is important in this context to factor in suitable noise control elements that protect against airborne sound and impact sound. The components of the technology installed in the building must also be integrated in a manner that ensures a minimisation of potentially annoying noise development.

Well-balanced acoustics that take account of a building's various uses are an important prerequisite for the creation of pleasant interior spaces. Speech transmission quality is of particular significance.

Acoustic simulation

Acoustic simulation is an effective means of generating accurate noise development forecasts before the construction phase. In addition to numeric and graphic representations, various anticipated real world circumstances can be made audible in advance via auralisation.

The simulation of noise propagation (CadnaA / SLIP) permits us to examine noise emission dynamics in more complex situations. For instance, relevant sources of noise can be identified and the effectiveness of selected noise control measures can be tested.

The simulation of airborne and impact noise propagation (BASTIAN) allows us to reliably calculate the degree of protection that will be necessary to neutralise noise generated both inside and outside the building. Auralisation can be used to arrive at reliable evaluations of the noise protection that various structural elements are expected to have.

Room acoustics simulation (CATT) enables the examination of the impact structural elements and architectural design are expected to have on acoustic quality. Auralisation can be used make the effect of the examined variables audible at any location in a given space.

Acoustic measurements

Measurements provide important information for planning and success monitoring and are applied in all construction phases nowadays. The measurement of current states, sample rooms and variations improves the reliability of projections, permits targeted optimisation and increases cost efficiency. Measurements taken in the context of acceptance procedures allow us to verify compliance with specifications. Measurements also allow us to conducted focused searches for weak spots, errors, potential sources of damage and unwanted phenomena.

This applies particularly to the following areas:

Measurement of outside noise

• Street, car park, loading ramps, etc.
• Building systems engineering

Structural acoustics

• Barriers against airborne sound from internal and external building components
• Barriers against impact sound from internal and external building components
• Barriers against sound coming from building systems and other building fixtures

Room acoustics

• Reverberation time (EDT, T10, T20, T30)
• Speech transmission quality (STI, Lp,A,S, Lp,A,S,4, D2,s, rD, rp, etc. )
• Other room acoustic parameters (e.g. centre time (TS), clarity (C), definition (D), strength G, etc.)

Vibration measurements Shock measurements

Our high-performance measurement equipment allows us to analyse existing structures and to continuously monitor the quality of construction task performance during the implementation of building measures.

Principles of sustainable architecture also enable us to ensure a high degree of comfort in the buildings we live and work in. We support you when it comes to arriving at a design that will ensure a pleasant and healthy ambience, as well as greater work and leisure comfort in your new or renovated building.

Buildings that are designed for sustainability not only reduce energy consumption, they also conserve resources and enable healthy interiors that are free of hazardous substances. Healthy, comfortable and ecologically sustainable buildings can be realised even in the early project phases by using optimised building concepts and a suitable selection of building materials, including renewable materials, recycled concrete and materials that are low in hazardous substances such as formaldehyde. The additional advantages for us and our environment include resource conservation, low environmental impact and minimised greenhouse gas emissions over a building's entire life cycle.

Measurements provide a basis for completing design tasks and monitoring adherence to specifications and they are used for testing performance parameters in all construction phases nowadays. The measurement of current states, sample rooms and variations improves the reliability of projections, permits targeted optimisation and increases cost efficiency. Measurements taken in the context of acceptance procedures allow us to verify compliance with specifications. Measurements also allow us to conducted focused searches for weak spots, errors, potential sources of damage and unwanted phenomena.

This applies particularly to the following areas:

Indoor climate and thermal comfort

• Air temperature
• Humidity
• Surface temperature
• Airflow velocity

Mould and moisture damage

• Surface and material moisture
• Mould detection and identification

Our high performance measurement equipment allows us to analyse existing structures and to continuously monitor the quality of construction task performance.

Building physics plays an important role in the overall comfort and well-being we experience when inside a building. We support you when it comes to arriving at a design that will ensure a pleasant and healthy ambience, energy efficiency and greater work and leisure comfort in your new or renovated building.

A smart building design can help to ensure thermal comfort in all seasons without increasing your energy consumption. Smart designs also help to prevent surface and structural damage.

Our main consulting goals include:

• Minimisation of heat loss in the winter (thermal protection in the winter)
• Compliance with energy standards (MINERGIE, MINERGIE-P)
• Prevention of overheating in the summer (thermal protection in the summer)
• Prevention of damage (moisture protection)

You can benefit from our design experience regardless of whether you are planning a new construction, a renovation or an energy optimisation Project.

Damage analysis of buildings is moving more and more into the field of building physics due to the increasing number of structural causes. In addition to classic causes of damage, construction defects due to building physics effects are today one of the main causes in both new and existing buildings. Reasons for this include faulty construction work, planning errors or a change in the use of the space or the pattern of use. Determining the exact cause is often difficult in practice.
We support you in finding and eliminating the cause(s) through expert advice and targeted measurement. With many years of experience and continuous further training, we provide support for acute damage, future damage restoration and long-term monitoring of individual components or entire building sites.

Our services at a glance:

• Measurement of the indoor and surface climate
• Measurement of building material moisture
• Implementation of damage monitoring and long-term measurements with real-time display
• Assessment and analysis of mould infestation/spores
• Analysis of the salt content in construction elements
• Material determination of building materials
• Determination and assessment of structural damage
• Development of damage reports and redevelopment concepts
• Consultation and assessment of available surveys and redevelopment concepts