Joyce Mak, M.Eng. 2016
Supervisor: Maureen Connelly, PhD
The acoustic performance of a building envelope is greatly dependent on the windows and other glazing elements, as they represent a significant sound path for exterior noise to transmit into the interior space due to their relatively low mass. Replacement or upgrade of existing windows may be impractical due to building by-law restrictions, heritage or historical site considerations, or breaching of rental agreements. To combat noise infiltration in existing residential buildings, commercially available add-on systems can be incorporated onto either the exterior or interior side of the windows. This research describes results of sound intensity measurements of five types of window add-on systems and their potential to reduce sound transmission through a standard size residential window. The effects of different add-on systems were investigated on three types of insulated glazing unit (IGU), double pane, double pane-acoustic and triple pane, on an installed vinyl framed window. All add-on systems exhibit consistently frequency band dependent acoustic improvement from the baseline IGU. The add-on systems provide appreciable noise reduction when they are installed on the baseline double pane IGU. The information provides guidance in the selection of window add-on systems for existing residential buildings that have high exposure to road traffic noise.