High levels of impact and airborne sound transmission between units are a common complaint in multi-family residences. However, systematically capturing occupant perspectives across the wide range of existing residences can be challenging. One promising approach is to analyze online user reviews. In this study, a dataset containing over 1 million reviews representing more than 27 000 multifamily dwellings across nine U.S. states is analyzed to detect words and phrases related to the perceived sound isolation. Relevant user reviews are classified by topic and sentiment and compared with user star ratings. Results from this study support future work that will co-examine user reviews with designed IIC and STC ratings, as well as field-tested ASTC and AIIC ratings. Ultimately, this project aims to provide stakeholders with data-driven acoustical design criteria for multi-family residences.
Mattson et al. (Wed,) studied this question.