Evaluation of sound attenuation effect in recording studios:udcase of angel FM station in Kumasi, Ghana

摘要

Cities in developing countries like Ghana experience severe environmental noise pollution resultingudpredominantly from a blend of exponential increase in road traffic volume, industrial, commercial andudresidential activities that are associated with thick population trends. High levels of noise pollution canudhave detrimental effects on human beings. Buildings that house noise sensitive activities such asudrecording studios in city centres need to be designed to provide protection from high ambient noiseudlevels that may interfere with speech communication. Cities and towns in Ghana have about oneudhundred and eighty Frequency Modulation (FM) stations that are invariably sited in the CentraludBusiness Districts (CBD) that happen to be in very noisy environments. The study investigatedudprevailing sound levels in the recording studio and associated spaces in an FM Station in Kumasi,udthe second largest city in Ghana. Data collection approaches involved monitoring of indoor andudoutdoor sound levels, interviewing of residents and workers of the community to assess theirudperception of noise levels. In addition measured drawings of the facilities and some observationsudwere undertaken. The data was analysed within the context of the study objectives. Monitored soundudlevels were compared to set standards by World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO permissibleudambient noise level limits of 45dB to 55dB and 55dB to 65dB for residential and commercial zonesudrespectively were exceeded for all outdoor monitored values. However, the sound attenuatingudcapabilities of the FM Station building maintains sound levels in the recording studios that are withinudpermissible sound limits. It is expected that the findings of this study will contribute in assistinguddesigners to make more objective design decisions at the preliminary phase of a studio buildingudproject, especially in very noisy urban environments.