Redesigned Window Stops Sound But Not Air

mbell 12 years ago |

I pulled the TL numbers from the paper and came up with an STC rating of around 31dB for the 20mm hole model. That is roughly the same STC rating as a decent dual pane window.

jonmrodriguez 12 years ago | |

Nice, that's good, right? Since it's as good as a dual pane window and also lets air through.

mbell 12 years ago | | |

It's not terrible, it's certainly impressive that they achieved that level of isolation with holes in it. Windows designed for high sound isolation will have STC ratings in the 40-48ish range. An STC increase of 10 equates to half as much sound passing through (as a human perceives it anyway).

As for the air passage, I'm curious about the real world flow numbers.

Just an off the cuff guess: it seems like the core principle is based on resonant cavities which I think would result in higher air pressure in the cavity than inside or outside the window. In a setup like that with calm ambient conditions I wouldn't think much air would actually pass through the panels, the higher pressure in the cavity would act as a bit of a wall. In windy conditions I would imagine much more air would pass through, but I bet there would be a corresponding decrease in sound isolation as air blasting through the cavity wouldn't be able to dissipate as much energy.

joemaller1 12 years ago |

I live in a city. Noise is a problem, but so are bugs and dirt and soot.

coolsunglasses 12 years ago | |

Thanks for reminding me how much I want to escape to the countryside.

mikro2nd 12 years ago | | |

I live in the countryside. Ask me about neighbouring Sheep, Goats, barking Dogs, braying Donkeys, logging trucks, tractors, screeching Baboons, honking wild Geese,...

BSousa 12 years ago | | |

What about the screeching Baboons?

Of all of those, seem to be the one with the highest hilarity possibilities :)

X4 12 years ago | | |

idk, I'd be afraid of screeching Baboons http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4hudgUt1fQ but these windows at least stop their sound, so there's no problem ;)

coolsunglasses 12 years ago | | |

I used to live in the country, but I wasn't very close to farms with livestock.

babby 12 years ago |

This reminds me of that Sono device, which seems more convenient.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv6sBuwzLhk http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/06/sono-window-noise-cleaner-...

Haven't read up on whether it works as advertised. Anyone have insight?

brianmcdonough 12 years ago |

This is innovative, but sure to be cost-prohibitive. I hope they can find a way to may it something that is more than a conversation starter for the rich because it is really cool.

sschueller 12 years ago | |

? Appears to be a cheap solution. Just a few sheets of clear acrylic or am I missing something?

tghw 12 years ago | | |

I don't think you are. I came across this a number of months ago and looked into building one myself. You could pretty easily start out with a couple of sheets of acrylic and make a grid to separate them. Then you just have to drill a lot of holes. I think getting the grid right would be the hardest part as a DIY project, but you could pretty easily imagine a machine cutting slots so it all fits together nicely.

krasin 12 years ago | | |

laser cutters are very inexpensive and accessible nowadays. Once somebody published a device, producing such a set of acrylic sheets with holes is not a problem at all.

bluefinity 12 years ago | | |

Ponoko will laser cut and ship you acrylic for fairly cheap: http://www.ponoko.com/make-and-sell/show-material/19-acrylic...

X4 12 years ago | | |

hmm.. you could use solar energy to heat the air coming through, otherwise the building would cool down right?

Also is it possible to let the air pass through into one direction only? I think strategically placing incoming/outgoing air-pass through windows, could make a decent air-flow (+heating) system.

prewett 12 years ago |

What I like about a good window is its ability to let in light without also letting in the air, as I've observed that outside air tends to be rather colder (or hotter) than my preference.

Cool science, though. If they can build these cheaply and preferably thin, it might be good for inside the house. Or in the paper-thin apartment walls, and maybe along with some much-needed thermal insulation while they are in the wall anyway.

Nux 12 years ago |

Wasps & co will love this kind of stuff. :-)

fru2013 12 years ago |

I wonder if you could build a temperature control system into this? I feel like without it, this might let too much cold air into your home.

taeric 12 years ago | |

I was thinking this could be great for hiding the noise of things already inside the house that need decent air flow. Consider if you could get a few of these around any compressor you have for hvac. Or, amusingly, around an attic fan so that it could quite literally ventilate the entire house without adding too much noise.

simoncion 12 years ago | |

Wouldn't the obvious solution be to use these as exterior windows and use a second set of traditional windows as interior windows?

intull 12 years ago |

Imagine an open-air like room on the terrace with such windows! Ah the bliss..!

X4 12 years ago | |

yeah, that would be a dream and it would feel really surreal, while it's actually possible. I hope those windows aren't too expensive. I would definitely order some

JoeAltmaier 12 years ago |

Wait, it lets air through. So its not a window; its a screen?

bradknowles 12 years ago | |

Or a fence. An optically clear, noise-reducing screen/fence.

For use in those places where you don't want to impede airflow (think a transom over a doorframe), but where you do want to reduce noise transmission.

Pretty cool!

donpark 12 years ago |

Guess South Korean submarines of the future will get even quieter and covered with tiny holes.