The Technical Committee on Room and Building Acoustics (EAA TC-RBA) was established on 15 March 1999 in Berlin, at the occasion of the joint ASA and EAA conference (2nd Forum Acusticum). 25 experts from 9 EU countries (Belgium, Germany, England, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and The Netherlands) joined for discussion about creation of a TC-RBA. This committee has been established as a horizontal forum within EAA for mutual information, discussion and preparation of activities in the respective field. Michael Vorländer has been elected as a first chair of TC-RBA. In the later years, Jens-Holger Rindel, Patrizio Fausti and Monika Rychtáriková have been chairs of the committee. Since 2015, the committee is led by two co-chairs with one being expert in the field of room acoustics and one in the field of building acoustics to ensure that both fields are equally represented in the committee work. Currently, Stefan Schoenwald is as chair responsible for building acoustics and Arianna Astolfi for Room Acoustics. Decisions on the committee work and activities are taken during the yearly TC RBA committee meeting that is usually held in conjunction with an EAA event. In 2016 an advisory council has been established to assist the chairs in decision processes in-between the committee meetings. Members of the TC RBA advisory council are Birgit Rasmussen, Monika Rychtáriková, Patrizio Fausti and Michael Vorländer.
One of the main aims of the TC-RBA is to provide all those working in the field of room and building acoustics with an information platform about new activities, research results, papers, books, congresses, projects, workshops etc. Another major tasks are to stimulate joint activities and mutual worldwide co-operation between researchers and related Technical Committees, such as the Technical Committee on Architectural Acoustics (TCAA) of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), to initiate common projects in research, development, and education, and to help in organization of structured sessions in room and building Acoustics for congresses, especially for the Forum Acusticum, which takes place every three years. The intention is also to organize, every year, a symposium or similar meeting, alternating between room acoustic topics and building acoustic topics. In addition, closer contact with members of other scientific groups and members of the related working groups of the ISO and CEN organizations are encouraged.
All colleagues, who are working in the field of Room and Building Acoustics, are kindly invited to participate in these activities and to post contributions.
In order to facilitate the execution of the above-mentioned aims, Working Groups may be established to deal with special topics. Currently, there are five WGs active. Members that are interested in contributing to a WG are invited to contact the person in charge.
WG 1 – Acoustics in Open-Plan Schools and Offices (wg1)
WG 2 – Sound Insulation Requirements and Sound Classification (wg2)
WG 3 – New Measurement Methods in Building Acoustics (wg3)
WG 4 – Speech production and perception in rooms
WG 5 - Human Echolocation
WG 6 - Requirements for Room Acoustical Parameters
One of the important goals during the last years became promotions of acoustics in general, also towards other related scientific fields.
All colleagues, who are working in the field of Room and Building Acoustics, are kindly invited to actively participate in our activities, to promote new topics and to foster communication with the community. To become a member simply subscribe to our mailing list (link to: https://legacy.euracoustics.org/mailman/listinfo/tc-rba).
This refereed mailing list also serves as a communication platform for exchange on current relevant topics and promotion of activities in Room- and Building Acoustics within the committee. Members are invited to share information on ongoing activities and events on room- and building acoustics, for example from their national societies, with the EAA community.
Teresa Carrascal García (co-chair, building acoustics)
Equipo de Acústica. Unidad de Calidad en la Construcción
Instituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja. IETcc- CSIC
c/ Serrano Galvache 4
28033 Madrid, Spain
Tel: + 34 91 068 61 63
email : tcarrascal@ietcc.csic.es
Arianna Astolfi (co-chair, room acoustics)
Politecnico di Torino
Department of Energy
C.so Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Tel: +39 011 0904496
email: arianna.astolfi@polito.it
http://www.tebe.polito.it/people/astolfi_arianna