October 2013 - Acoustics and Sustainable Design

Nathan Sevener is a Principal Consultant and Partner at the acoustical consulting firm Soundscape Engineering. He started his career 18 years ago in Los Angeles, working at the multidisciplinary, British engineering firm Arup. Mr. Sevener is a licensed professional engineer (mechanical), a LEED Accredited Professional, and a Board Certified member of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering. He has been an instructor at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and in the College of Engineering at Valparaiso University. He has been published and has presented technical papers for Sound & Vibration Magazine, Acoustical Society of America, Institute of Noise Control Engineering, Midwest Healthcare Engineering Conference and Tradeshow, and Healthcare Facilities Symposium and Expo. Mr. Sevener’s firm provides acoustical consulting services for projects primarily located in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, California, and Western Canada.

The first ‘sustainable’ building which he recalls working on was the LEED Gold certified Santa Monica Main Library, which he began design work on twelve years ago. However, the mild climate of Southern California meant that sustainable design features were already in use before the promulgation of the LEED rating system. Some of these sustainable design elements, such as natural ventilation, had a great impact on building acoustics. As the sustainable design movement has gained momentum, pressed forward by the economic pressure for energy efficient buildings, it increasingly impacted building acoustics. The need for recycled material content drove acoustical finishes manufacturers to offer new products to meet the demand, increased use of radiant heating systems resulted in more frequent lack of speech privacy in buildings, utilization of fan-powered energy recovery units introduced new noise sources. Sustainable design further impacted acoustical design work when the USGBC included mandatory and optional points for the acoustical environment in the LEED rating systems. In this presentation, Mr. Sevener will describe how sustainable design practices have lead to new acoustical problems and considerations for building designers and some of the ways that these acoustical issues can be addressed.

Cost is $5 to students unless you are a member!

Please RSVP by Tuesday, October 15

Lunch Meeting - October 17

Canceled

Dinner Meeting - March 21

Cost: $20 (includes dinner and drinks)

Check-in: 5:30 pm - 6:00 CDT

Dinner/Program: 6:00 - 8:00 pm CDT

Millies Engineering Group

9711 Valparaiso Drive

Enter at North End by Lunchroom

Munster, Indiana 46321

Step 1 - RSVP - Fill in the form and click "submit"

Optional - Step 2 - Pay for Registration

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A $1.00 convenience fee has been added to cover transaction costs. All payments are FINAL; there will be no refunds.