HVAC terminal units are too darn loud

This paper discusses three design trends and their implications for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) noise: interior designs resulting in exposed utilities in commercial buildings, particularly in flexible seating and open collaboration areas; improving indoor air quality by providing clean and fiber-free airstreams in healthcare, research, or educational facilities; and the use of recently developed sensible-cooling terminal units, also known as dedicated outside air system (DOAS) terminal units. Applying traditional noise control strategies to HVAC systems in these contexts cannot always achieve typical background noise criteria. Design and construction teams must consider alternative strategies which are often relatively extreme in terms of cost, size, and effort. In many cases, the drawbacks of these strategies outweigh their acoustic benefit and so they are not always implemented, resulting in noisy spaces. This paper argues that the design of HVAC terminal units should be refined to reduce generated noise. This would allow customers more flexibility when using terminal units and ultimately reduce noise impacting building occupants across all industries.