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Jan 2012

Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 10-33

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The Acoustical Society of America Standards Program: Organization and Scope

Paul D. Schomer

Acou. Today Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 10-14 (2012); (5 pages)

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The standards program of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is fundamental to the Society and directly serves its stated purpose—to increase and diffuse the knowledge of acoustics and promote its practical applications. Standards are one of the foremost ways that the society accomplishes its purpose of promoting the practical application of acoustics. Since the inception of the society in 1929, members have been actively involved in the development of acoustical standards. The very first standards work began in 1930 and dealt with standardizing a sound level meter and its use. So the society has an 82‐year history of acoustical standards development.

International Standards Development and the U.S. Technical Advisory Group Process

Susan B. Blaeser

Acou. Today Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 16-20 (2012); (5 pages)

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As industry becomes increasingly global the importance of international standards increases, as well. How can U.S. companies, government agencies, and other organizations ensure that their voices are heard and their interests are protected. The U.S. Technical Advisory Group (U.S. TAG) is the only avenue for U.S. stakeholders to provide input to technical committees in the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission. The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) administers nine of these U.S. TAGs. This paper presents an overview of the process by which international standards are developed and explains how U.S. stakeholders, working through the American National Standards Institute and the ASA, can participate in the development of standards on acoustics; bioacoustics; electroacoustics; noise; mechanical vibration, shock and conditioning monitoring; and most recently, underwater acoustics.

Consensus Standards: One Perspective from a Government Scientist

Arnold G. Konheim

Acou. Today Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 21-22 (2012); (2 pages)

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Many of the Federal government's acoustics regulations have been directed toward abating environmental noise. The Noise Control Act of 1972 designated the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the principal agency for leading Federal noise control efforts, and EPA's primary tool was to be through its regulatory authority. Regulating noise sources requires not only designating a maximum acceptable sound level but also specifying the measurement protocol. The measurement protocol addresses such issues as measurement geometry, atmospheric conditions, acoustical properties of pavement and ground surfaces, ambient level, spatial and temporal sampling rates and instrument specifications. Because the development of measurement protocols is the focus of consensus standards activities, EPA participated in the activities of consensus standards organizations. However, the EPA Noise Office developed its own measurement protocols—a measurement process that proved lengthy and contentious. Frequently, it was the measurement protocol that was challenged, delaying the issuance of regulations.

Tower of Babel, or Why Bother about International Standards?

Östen Axelsson

Acou. Today Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 23-24 (2012); (2 pages)

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Language serves as an excellent illustration of what standardization is all about. This leads me to the title of my paper: Tower of Babel. According to the legend of the Tower of Babel in the first book of Genesis in the Bible, man decided to build a tower high enough to reach heaven. God found this to be a bad idea, and punished mankind by giving us different languages, so we would not be able to communicate and collaborate. This strikes me as the opposite of standardization. The legend of the Tower of Babel teaches us that standardization provides us a common point of reference and means for communication. Standards facilitate the development of common objectives, common methods and a common understanding. Like English as an international business language, International Standards provide us a common frame of reference that facilitates exchange and collaboration beyond our national borders. Could you imagine humanity and a global economy without these common frames of reference?

Taking American National Standards to the International Level

Michael A. Bahtiarian

Acou. Today Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 25-28 (2012); (4 pages)

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Once you have led a group of national experts on the creation of the first commercial standard for the measurement of underwater noise from ships, what do you do next? First, you celebrate that you got the job done and make sure everyone knows that it is not just a “commercial standard,” but more correctly, the first “voluntary consensus standard.” After developing an ANSI accredited standard what do you do for an encore? The only logical follow‐up is to bring the standard to the International Standards Organization (ISO) and that is just what was done with the encouragement and help of the ASA standards office.

Acoustical Standards Play a Key Role in Optimized Solutions

Stephen J. Lind

Acou. Today Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 29-31 (2012); (3 pages)

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Acoustical standards are important to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system manufacturers. Our participation in developing standards helps us by: (1) getting the right information to our customers; (2) avoiding conflicts between manufacturers and other organizations; and (3) preparing for changing system requirements. Being active in standards work helps us to agree with our customers on what is the correct information to provide. Providing accurate, appropriate acoustical information for our solutions helps to make sure the system is applied correctly and increases the likelihood that customers will be satisfied with our systems.

Modern Tools for Improving the Development of Acoustical Standards

Christopher J. Struck

Acou. Today Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 32-33 (2012); (2 pages)

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In the past, the development of acoustical standards has followed largely on the trailing edge of technology. Given the progressively more rapid development of new technology, it is critical that new standards be developed when needed in the timeliest manner possible. Furthermore, participants in working groups are volunteers with limited time available for this important work. Budgetary constraints may also limit travel to in‐person meetings for many persons otherwise interested in participating and whose practical experience is essential to the process. On‐line meeting and collaboration tools enable shorter, more effective, and more frequent meetings to move draft standards more quickly to a ballot‐ready document. Documents can be edited collaboratively in real time using standard mark‐up tools for immediate feedback from participants. This also enables participation across time zones. The use of a password protected “cloud network” ftp site for working group documents (e.g., drafts, reference documents, meeting minutes, etc.) eliminates unnecessary e‐mail traffic with large attachments and enables participants to access documents at any convenient time. A number of tools and practices can be leveraged to improve the contemporary standards development process. A case study shows how this has worked in practice.
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