Some questions about the relationship between acoustical performance and perceived acoustic comfort contributed to the start of this research study, which investigated the performance and acoustic comfort in buildings that have ceramic block and brick walls, respectively, in Brazil and Portugal. Portuguese bricks are 11.0 cm and 15.0 cm thick, and the Brazilian blocks are 11.5 cm and 14.0 cm thick. The evaluation of the acoustic performance of those elements consisted of laboratory and field experiments. The performance criteria used to evaluate the acoustic performance was the Brazilian standard NBR 15575 and the Portuguese law 96/2008. The evaluation of acoustic comfort consisted of the analysis of the participation of a jury, which indicated the perception of sentences produced by male and female voices, in a simulation of coexistence between adjacent neighbours. The results of the acoustic performance of those walls are below what is recommended by local criteria for their use as twinning walls. The evaluation of the results by the jury supports that conclusion. The study concludes that the building industries in those two countries need to improve acoustic performance in order to meet the requirements of new standards.
Acoustic performance; Sound insulation; Acoustical comfort; Masonry walls
