A huge thanks to AMFP Greater Philadelphia – Association of Medical Facility Professionals for inviting us to display at the Turn the Tables 2.0 event at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. It was all about getting women and minority owned businesses out in front of decision makers in the medical planning fields. Felicia and Graham M. Everhart “manned” the booth and made lots of great connections. Check us out in action.
It’s scary season and one of the most frightening things to us acousticians is hearing loss. In previous newsletters we’ve talked about how extended time exposure to elevated sound levels can cause hearing loss and what you can do to protect yourself, but there are other causes that are not as well known. Read on to learn about ototoxicants and how they can affect your hearing.
Recently Felicia was thrilled to attend the JVS Philadelphia Fund for Women dinner and networking event on Tuesday, October 1st, at Judee Von Seldeneck’s home. As a past grantee, she is always amazed that the support of Judee, the Advisory Committee, and the Friends of the Fund (all amazing women!) does not stop at providing the grant. They consistently check in to see what it is that she needs to succeed and build up SenSV to its full potential. Felicia is so fortunate to be in the sisterhood of this amazing network! Click here to see some photos.
This month’s newsletter covers a topic that we encounter on many projects at Metropolitan Acoustics – noise ordinances…or the lack thereof. Most urban and suburban municipalities have a quantifiable noise ordinance, but subjective noise ordinances are common in rural and exurb areas, which can cause a whole host of problems. Read on to learn more about how this can affect the residents of these areas.
It was a gorgeous summer evening on August 15 when Women in Bio Greater Philadelphia chapter met at the Overbrook Golf Club for a women’s golf clinic. Newcomers to golf enjoyed a welcoming and supportive experience. Everyone learned how to leverage golf as a tool for business success while honing their skills under the guidance of golf professionals. The event featured two hands-on drills: practicing putting and improving distance with irons and drivers. Just look at this smiley group!
Many thanks to Maxxon Corporation and Evelyn Way for hosting 15 acoustical consultants across the US and Canada at their annual Acoustical Symposium this week! Chris and Felicia were treated to a Monday evening cruise on beautiful Lake Minnetonka along with a fantastic dinner afterwards. On Tuesday, we were at Maxxon HQ and learned all about gypsum concrete, entangle mesh underlayments, testing statistics, legal items, and our favorite part, a tour of their new floor/ceiling lab, which is the largest in the world. A terrific couple of days. Look at all the fun we had here!
The construction industry is filled with a multitude of standards and guidelines that developers and architects can use to select design goals for their projects. Whether it is a sustainability program like LEED, or an independent organization such as FGI, the acoustic criteria within these standards and guidelines can often be quite tricky to understand without an acoustician on board. Read on to learn about a few examples where the expert understanding of acoustic terminology at Metropolitan Acoustics can be beneficial when designing and constructing a new building following specific guidelines.
Metropolitan recently wrapped up two projects with Wells Fargo – one at One Commerce Square and the other at Two Logan Square in Philadelphia. Since employees have been populating offices again, acoustical considerations for these office fit-outs is very important to our clients. We provided services for over 48,000 SF of space. Our services included interior room acoustics, speech privacy, fit-out mechanical system noise and vibration control, and construction administration. Check out the great pictures we got!
Now that spring has turned to summer, you may be getting used to the birds chirping and bumble bees buzzing. These summer sounds present a comforting backdrop for a pleasant morning on the patio with a fresh iced coffee in hand. But just as you’re about to take your first sip, you’re greeted by that other sound of summer: the start of a gas-powered lawn mower engine just on the other side of the fence, followed shortly thereafter by a gas leaf blower. Fortunately, there is a growing trend towards electric-motor lawn equipment that has the power to save your morning from noise (and air) pollution. Read on to learn more about the acoustic side of this trending topic.
Deep in the throes of the pandemic in late 2020, the idea of returning to the physical office was a distant dream. By 2022, most of us had returned to the office on a limited basis, but still spent more time working remotely. Now in 2024, the post-pandemic work model seems to lean towards an office-heavy hybrid – a shift motivated by the promise of collaboration, spontaneous interactions, clearer communication, and team cohesion. Companies are now looking for ways to optimize the use of their facilities with greater emphasis on flexibility and interpersonal communication and a deemphasis on space-hogging private offices and one-employee-one-desk models. However, the shift from the solitude of home offices to the humming open office environment can present significant acoustic challenges. Read on to learn more about open office speech privacy.
Metropolitan Acoustics, LLC is an acoustics and vibration consulting firm based in Philadelphia, PA