Acoustically controlled components for building ventilation

Whether at home, in a hotel, or at work in the office: windows are regularly opened for room ventilation. However, if the outside noise is too loud, it is closed again rather quickly. To address this problem, an acoustic function has been integrated into the ventilation control of an automatic window by adding a microphone that measures the impacting outside noise. As a first step, an automatic closing is implemented as soon as a certain noise level is reached outside the building. A microphone in the interior provides a second decision criterion by the inside noise level. The main project focus lies on the development of an AI system for intelligent control of such windows or other facade openings based on the characteristics of outside noise events. An analysis method developed at Fraunhofer IBP has achieved recognition of particularly disturbing types of noise, such as a helicopter, for example. Thus, the closing process is initiated early on, even with quiet, approaching noise disturbances. The method is additionally validated by subjective evaluations of noise pollution and loudness perception of the noises to be detected. The paper presents the results together with applications on windows and on a pendulum fan.