HONOLULU, Dec. 3, 2025 — Many modern buildings are "green buildings," adhering to a complex set of standards to ensure they are environmentally friendly and sustainably designed, with minimal impact on nature and the humans that inhabit them. These standards can govern everything from energy efficiency to construction materials used for acoustic privacy between rooms.
The sheer number of factors to consider when designing such a building can make even veteran architects stumble. Even deciding which construction material to use requires accounting for cost, lifetime carbon emissions, and acoustic performance.
Acoustic consultant George Edgar will present his assessment of various wall and floor types for their climate impact and acoustic performance Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 8:20 a.m. HST as part of the Sixth Joint Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and Acoustical Society of Japan, running Dec. 1-5 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Sound and noise have a major impact on our ability to focus and communicate, which is why acoustic requirements are often featured in green building standards, such as LEED in the U.S. and BREEAM in the U.K.
"The leading voluntary green building schemes in major English-speaking countries and Japan all include credits for acoustics," said Edgar. "These schemes acknowledge the impact acoustic comfort has on the well-being of a building's occupants."
Edgar evaluated multiple materials, including timber, steel, and concrete, for their sound insulating properties along with their global warming potential (GWP), a measure of the carbon emissions involved in manufacturing them.
"The primary factor that influences GWP in the manufacturing phase is the amount of energy, and therefore carbon emissions, required to produce the material," said Edgar. "Concrete and steel are more energy-intensive to produce than timber products, so they have higher GWP values in the manufacturing phase."
Edgar found that, for floors with a given sound insulation performance, concrete could have a far higher GWP than timber, and walls that incorporated timber outperformed standard steel studs, even when they needed more wall linings to achieve the same acoustic performance.
Despite the importance of these results, little research has been done examining both the acoustic performance and climate impacts of building materials. Edgar is optimistic that his work will lead to buildings that are both quiet and climate-friendly.
"As acoustic consultants, an awareness of the GWP associated with the design solutions we specify can help us to make a positive impact on our environment for generations to come," said Edgar. "I'd like to see more research in this area so we can all make more informed decisions when considering acoustics and sustainability."
