The American Wood Council (AWC) has released a new mobile app to calculate sound transmission based on the “Technical Report 15 (TR 15), Calculation of Sound Transmission Parameters for Wood-Framed Assemblies.”

The 2018 International Building Code provides two parameters to establish minimum acoustical requirements: Sound Transmission Class (STC) and Impact Insulation Class (IIC). Compliance with these requirements may be demonstrated either through testing or through engineering analysis based on empirical test data from other similar assemblies. The Acoustics App uses the AWC empirical model, based on empirical test data, to estimate STC and IIC values which can be used to demonstrate compliance of wood-frame floor-ceiling assemblies with these code-regulated sound transmission parameters. 

“We released the TR 15 to simplify how wood-framed floor-ceiling assemblies can comply with the acoustical requirements. We’ve now taken it a step further by developing this free app,” said AWC Vice President of Engineering Brad Douglas. “It is now even easier for code officials and designers to determine what wood-frame floor-ceiling assemblies can comply with code-specified acoustical requirements.”

The free Acoustic Calculator app is available in the Android, iOS and Windows app stores.

AWC also offers an eCourse that covers the basis for the calculation-based analysis approach, which is accredited by the International Code Council and approved by the American Institute of Architects for continuing education credits. The free eCourse is available here.

About

The American Wood Council (AWC) is the voice of North American wood products manufacturing, an industry that provides almost 450,000 men and women in the United States with family-wage jobs. AWC represents 86 percent of the structural wood products industry, and members make products that are essential to everyday life from a renewable resource that absorbs and sequesters carbon. Staff experts develop state-of-the-art engineering data, technology, and standards for wood products to assure their safe and efficient design, as well as provide information on wood design, green building, and environmental regulations. AWC also advocates for balanced government policies that affect wood products.

www.awc.org