Deeply understand the acoustic characteristics of the Ernst-Christoffel-Haus event hall with the support of Sonocat technology.

The Ernst-Christoffel-Haus event hall in Mönchengladbach-Rheydt, Germany, recently completed an on-site measurement of acoustic characteristics aimed at assessing the sound absorption effects of different wall materials. This study, conducted in collaboration with Peutz Consult GmbH, provided an in-depth understanding of the indoor acoustic environment using advanced Sonocat technology.

Measurement Methods and Equipment

The measurement work was conducted on November 8, 2017, using Sonocat equipment (as shown in Figure 1), which estimates the incident and reflected sound intensity based on the Local Plane Wave (LPW) assumption to calculate the absorption coefficient. For this measurement, an omnidirectional speaker was placed in the center of the room to emit broadband noise, while the walls, doors, facades, and ceiling were evaluated through small-range scanning measurements (measurement site shown in Figure 2).

Figure 1: SONOCAT Equipment Display

Figure 2: Measurement Site

Measurement Results

The results (as shown in Figure 3) indicate that the four surfaces abovewall01, abovedoor01, abovewall02, and ceiling01 generally have the highest absorption coefficients, especially in the frequency range of 2 kHz, where the absorption coefficient exceeds 0.9. In contrast, wall01, wall02, and abovefacade have poorer sound absorption, with most frequencies having an absorption coefficient of only 0.2 starting from 200 Hz, reaching 0.75 at 5 kHz. The sound absorption effect of ceiling02 is similar to the aforementioned surfaces, but slightly worse at certain frequencies. Other surfaces exhibit almost no sound absorption characteristics and can be considered as acoustically hard surfaces.

Figure 3: Measurement Results

Conclusion

This study clearly shows that certain surfaces in the Ernst-Christoffel-Haus event hall absorb more sound than others. In particular, the surfaces abovewall01, abovedoor01, abovewall02, and ceiling01 absorb the most sound in the room. The sound absorption effects of wall01, wall02, abovefacade, and ceiling02 are poorer, while the remaining surfaces do not absorb sound at all. The Sonocat technology confirmed that different acoustic materials were used in the event hall, with the highest absorption materials used in the aforementioned locations, while less absorptive materials were used in wall01, wall02, and abovefacade locations.

Appendix

To provide a more comprehensive perspective, the study also included corner view images of the measurement locations (as shown in Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7), as well as charts of the absorption coefficients for wall01/wall02/abovefacade, doors, facades, front walls, ceilings, and pyramid foam. This data provides valuable references for acoustic design and material selection.

Figure 4: Corner View Image 1

Figure 5: Corner View Image 2

Figure 6: Corner View Image 3

Figure 7: Corner View Image 4

Conclusion:

This study not only provides a scientific basis for the acoustic characteristics of the Ernst-Christoffel-Haus event hall but also offers important references for future architectural acoustic design and material selection. The application of Sonocat technology demonstrates the importance and effectiveness of on-site sound absorption measurements in indoor acoustic assessments.