Architectural and environmental acoustics are an essential part of building science and sustainable design. The Acoustics Lab at BCIT was established to educate and advance knowledge and technology in these study areas. Our Acoustics Lab supports many graduate student research projects as part of the Building Science Master Degree programs, leading regional research in key areas of architectural and building acoustics particularly where sound interfaces living architecture. We have a range of acoustical testing facilities (some to ISO and ASTM standards) as well as specialized equipment and software programs for scientific research in acoustics. We are in collaboration with other regional and institutional researchers, engineers, consultants and professionals, and have been contributing to literature since 2008.
We currently offer two acoustics courses that have proven to be widely successful in supporting building and building design professionals in applicable acoustical expertise:
- BSCI 7200 Acoustical Science and Ecology, Bachelor of Interior Design Program. See course outline.
- BSCI 9060 Advanced Acoustics, Building Science Master Degree Programs. See course outline.
Our current and recently completed research projects include the following:
- Acoustical Characteristics of Green Roofs
- Sound Living in Vancouver’s Laneway Housing
- Acoustical Characteristics of Living Walls
- Indoor Air Quality Effects of Living Walls
- Directivity testing of anechoic chambers
- Sound-masking device for open office environments
- Insertion loss of green walls and green wall carriers
- Sound propagation studies on Vancouver Convention Center’s green rooftop
- Sound intensity studies of Vancouver Convention Center’s rooftop exhaust systems
- Speech intelligibility versus speech privacy tests in the AFRESH Home- open plan office at BCIT’s Burnaby campus
- Reverberation tests and software modelling of BCIT’s SW1 atrium
- Sound transmission loss modelling and flanking paths analysis of insulated concrete (ICF) building envelope systems
If you are interested in learning more about the importance of having good acoustics in building design and construction, or are interested in collaborating or supporting our acoustics research projects, please contact us here.