Noisy neighbors are annoying, and they seem to be everywhere. Just picture the scene. Right before your alarm clock goes off, the crazy couple next door takes their morning argument outside to the patio (which just happens to be next to your bedroom window), and the kid across the street cranks up his new tricked-out canary yellow Camaro before he cruises off to school. Thinking you’ll find some peace by escaping to work early, you are instead greeted by a din of irksome cube mates: Larry is coughing, Mary is singing and Gerry is pencil tapping again. What’s an employee to do” It’s ButtonGroup to the rescue.
WHAT ARE WE EVEN TALKING ABOUT”
Acoustics are like the rules of etiquette: they’re only noticed when they’re bad. So what determines what’s good, and where do you even start” A suggestion: an acoustical consultant like ButtonGroup. This company is led by the eponymous NCARB certified architect David Button, who offers “turn-key office acoustic solutions” to interior designers, architects, and facility managers tired of being threatened by disgruntled workers.
Instead of using muscle to shut your neighbors up, acoustical consultants use science and technology to formulate all the same results, but without all the violence. A well-integrated combination of conventional finishes (think carpet, wall treatments, ceiling materials, furniture / upholstery) and high-tech devices (think speakers, noise generators, equalizers and amplifiers) can make everyone happy and productive.
Button calls this golden combo “sound conditioning,” which is only somewhat related to “air conditioning” in that occasionally the space’s HVAC system helps play a part. You know the whooshing sound that heating / ventilation / air conditioning systems make” Some refer to that as “white noise,” and the novice may think that it’s enough to block bombastic co-worker Barry’s phone outbursts.
However, the ambient sound must be more calculated than that to be effective. The key is generating “pink noise”: sounds targeted near the speech frequency spectrum. These sounds help mask human voices, which tend to skew towards the higher end of the frequency range.
As more and more companies move towards open office plans – for reasons varying from desire for increased communication levels to decreased lease space expenditures – more of us must deal with lack of privacy. In this case, privacy centers around preventing the chaos around you from creeping into your head, foiling your concentration on the tasks at hand. The majority of the time the prime offenders are human voices because of their particular sound frequency levels, human nature (we’re a very noisy bunch), and the contrast between voices and the other more ambient workplace noises such as copiers, printers and break room microwaves.
So how do you control this ambient noise so that it provides effective sound masking” That’s where the scientific gadgetry comes in. A noise masking system technically will not quiet down a workplace; instead it will flatten out your open office neighbors’ conversations (or rants), reducing your detail comprehension and allowing your brain to ignore it easily.
This method works by utilizing digital noise generators and equalizers. Similar to how you fiddle around with your receiver to achieve just the right sound levels to put your date in the mood for romance, the acoustic consultants adjust the equalizers to put employees in the mood for work. These results can be achieved on a small scale with individual all-in-one units. More commonly, they are reached with a comprehensive system of speakers located in the plenum space (above the finished ceiling but below the structural deck), all controlled from a central “motherboard” set up in an electrical closet or server room.
WHO DOES WHAT”
Before we get into ButtonGroup specifics, let’s talk about acoustical consulting generalities because, as usual, we want to paint you The Big Picture.
The acoustical consultant is the one who designs the system spitting out the pink noise. This person (or group) could work in-house for a big company with constant privacy demands, or he/she could be a part of a sizeable architectural / design firm cranking out multiple projects for these acoustically demanding clients.
The latter scenario can be quite efficient from a design standpoint because all the players (designers, architects and acoustical experts) are in close proximity to one another. This set-up can be a bit more efficient in planning client solutions from the beginning of a project. Plus, the acoustical expert will constantly remind the more aesthetically driven players that all those gorgeous hard surfaces they want to specify come with acoustical consequences. Unfortunately, many times acoustics is the last consideration on a project, so this collaborative scenario doesn’t happen as often as it should.
Frequently, acoustical consultants have their own firms, which is the case with ButtonGroup. Within these independent firms, you can still find variety. Some are so gadget-obsessed that they design and manufacture their own systems and components. On the other hand, others research existing available systems – produced by a multitude of manufacturers – and then design a system using those components. ButtonGroup is of the latter variety.
Concept and design are great, but you may be thinking: “Who actually installs this stuff”” The in-house corporate sound jockeys tend to maintain and tweak their own systems, though they don’t always perform the initial installation. If an independent consultant just consults, then they will contract with an installation vendor or an electrical contractor to put it all in place. However, many acoustical consultant firms – like ButtonGroup – are of the design-build variety, which means that they have their own staff of installers. This arrangement can be quite helpful, especially if any unforeseen problems arise because there’s no opportunity for finger pointing and delays.
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL”
As in most things, the motivation boils down to money. Productivity allows companies to make more money, and privacy allows companies to keep it.
The phrase “employee productivity level” perks up the corporate execs’ ears. When levels are high, they see bonuses in their future; when they’re low, they see pink slips. Productivity suffers when constant distractions interfere with concentration levels, but we already know this. It’s the reason why our mothers wouldn’t let us do our homework with the TV on. So… if a company can help eliminate the distractions, the work gets done faster and usually with fewer errors.
Another issue that affects productivity is stress, also defined as lack of comfort. If overheated Harry woos hotties on his lunch break via his workstation telephone, you’re going to be uncomfortable. If co-worker Carrie is constantly cursing her kids in the connecting cube, your stress level is going to rise. No workplace will ever be without stress (it wouldn’t be considered work then, would it”) or without its obliviously obnoxious employees, but a company can effectively deal with problems like elevated, distracting noise levels.
Likewise, lack of privacy can cost companies millions. The most common culprit is an employee eavesdropping on conversations he/she shouldn’t be hearing. From trade secret exposure to insider information temptation to quality control concerns to pay scale level leaks, certain knowledge is kept under wraps for a reason. Important tidbits divulged too early can reek havoc on a company, whether it be from a public relations standpoint or an investment / shareholder perspective.
But now there’s even another aspect to the privacy subject: protecting people’s personal particulars. With the passing of “The Privacy Rule” related to HIPAA [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act] and under the supervision of the United States Department of Health & Human Services, privacy does indeed rule. (At least it has since April 14, 2003 , the date in which it went into full effect.)
In this case, one’s personal medical history – and who has access to it – is specifically what’s being protected. “The Privacy Rule” relates not only to digital and paper transmission of personal information, but also to the oral transmission of your personal info within healthcare-related companies, organizations and facilities.
After the “Rule” was passed in 2001, entities had only a couple of years to comply. What happens if an organization fails to meet the terms” If fines up to $250,000 don’t cause anxiety, then the threat of jail terms up to 10 years surely will. Since alterations to the physical structure are commonly daunting – either due to space restrictions and/or cost limitations – sound masking and applied acoustical materials have become the prescription to cure many an office / facility manager’s ills.
WHAT’S THE SOLUTION”
Don’t think these acoustical folk are just flying by the seat of their pants. As with most things in life, there are Standards out there. ASTM International [formerly American Society for Testing and Materials] has put in its 2-cents worth when it comes to acceptable workplace sound privacy levels. According to them and many others in the field, attacking from all sides is key.
From Section 3.1 of ASTM International’s Standard Guide for Open Office Acoustics and Applicable ASTM Standards: The attenuation of sound between neighboring work stations in an open-plan office is typically much less than that potentially available between closed-plan offices. Nevertheless, a degree of acoustical privacy can be achieved if component selection and interaction are understood. A successful open plan office is the result of careful coordination of the several components, ceiling, wall treatments, furniture and furnishings, heating, ventilating and air-conditioning system, and masking sound system.
They go on to detail particulars about octave resolution, spectrum slopes, and decibel levels. As designers, we’re happy to know that firms like ButtonGroup know what ASTM International is talking about because we have other details to absorb ourselves with, such as… specifying sound absorptive panels within workstations, and ceiling tiles and wall panels with high NRCs [noise reduction coefficient]. And, of course, we want to make it all look good – please don’t take that part away from us!
So it’s a combination of all of these components that will do the trick, and that’s where firms like ButtonGroup come in. Not only can they guide you on a sound masking system, but they can also provide the other solutions that will prevent your clients from going off the deep end: movable wall systems, operable privacy glass, absorptive sound baffles, and specialty ceilings. You can see the broad list of their lines by visiting their website: http://www.buttongroup.com/
While there, also take a look as the list of their happy clients, which include Accenture, Bank of America, Hewlett Packard, State Farm and Texas Instruments.
Want to know more or need some help on a project”
Then just make contact:
David Button, NCARB 
Button Group LLC
Architectural Specialties
1608 Emory Circle
Plano, Texas 75093 US
972.985.0619 office
469.223.0810 cell
www.buttongroup.com
db@buttongroup.com
