Proper reverberation time in the office

What is the optimal reverberation time in the office?

The more people work together in the office, the more difficult it is to concentrate on one's work. Therefore, it is important to minimize disturbing noises. The faster the noise of the colleague "disappears" in the general background noise, the less disturbing it is perceived.

Sound absorbing materials reduce the noise level of colleagues in the office by absorbing sound and thus reducing the reverberation time.

According to the Technical rules for workplaces - noise (ASR A3.7, Detuschland) apply in office rooms the following minimum requirements for the reverberation times to be observed:

You can use our sustainable absorbers to reduce the reverberation time in the office

 

Measure the reverberation time in the office yourself for orientation

You can also measure the reverberation time in the office yourself as a rough guide: For example with the app "RevMeterPro" (AppStore). Simply launch the app and

  1. Press Calibrate to calibrate the measurement to the basic level of the room.
  2. Press fairs and clap hands
  3. Read reverberation time: RT60 = 3x RT20 = XXX.X ms
 

In this example here, the reverberation time is:

  • RT60 = 479.1 ms
  • RT60 is 0.4791 s - i.e. slightly less than 0.5 seconds

    Why so complicated? The iPhone microphone can only measure RT20 via the app. The reverberation time RT60 (exact definition below) is calculated from this measured value. Admittedly, this is quite complicated in the app.

  • The measurement with the iPhone provides a rough orientation. This should be followed by a precise acoustic evaluation of the room. Here, the measurement of the reverberation time is carried out with professional equipment.

Explanation of the reverberation time:
"How long before there is no echo".

 

Image: SilentFiber.net

Simple explanation of the reverberation time:

When a person speaks, they emit sound waves. These sound waves are reflected in the room by a wall, for example - there is an echo.

In very simplified terms, the reverberation time of the

Period of time from the end of speaking to the moment when you no longer hear an echo.

Was ist die Nachhallzeit
Image: SilentFiber.net

A precise definition of reverberation time expresses this somewhat more scientifically:

Reverberation time (RT) is a measure of the amount of reverberation in a room. It indicates the time interval within which the sound pressure level in a room decreases to a fraction when the sound source is suddenly silenced. RT60 corresponds to a decrease of the sound pressure level by 60 dB.
In the attached example, it takes 1 second for the sound pressure level to decrease by 60dB. The reverberation time (RT60) is therefore 1 second.

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