Wind noise from façades - building aeroacoustics

The following requirements for façades are often cited in tenders: “Avoidance of façade noise, e.g. through acoustic flow tests on façade elements in a wind tunnel”. We can help you optimize the acoustics of your façade designs!

Façades fulfill a number of functions: they protect the interior of a house against the weather, insulate it and thus help to increase energy efficiency. In addition to these basic functions, however, they also meet comfort requirements, for example by regulating light and shade and providing acoustic features, such as sound insulation.

But façades can also have undesirable effects: for example, people in high-rise buildings hear noise caused by the wind. Due to the large surface area of façades, this noise can sometimes become so loud that it is quite disturbing for the people living inside as well as in the immediate vicinity. It does not necessarily take average to high wind speeds to cause the noise. Lukewarm breezes can sometimes be enough to cause distinctive wind noise, which may in fact be much more annoying, as it stands out more clearly from background noise. These façade properties are classified under the term “building aeroacoustics”.

Our services at a glance:

• Acoustic measurements on façade sections in a wind tunnel
• Acoustic measurements on façade elements in a reverberation chamber behind the outlet funnel of the wind tunnel
• Vibration measurements on façade elements to ascertain the effects of structural vibrations on acoustic sound radiation
• Elaboration of an appropriate measurement program using relevant sections of the façade
• Calculations and simulations of wind flows on façades