Course Details

Acoustics and Daylighting

Academic Year 2026/27

BHB011 course is part of 3 study plans

​ BPA-SI Summer Semester 4th year

​ BKC-SI Summer Semester 4th year

​ BPC-SI / S Summer Semester 4th year

The course presents fundamentals in room acoustics and daylighting in buildings. Knowledge of this subject will be practically used for the following study - in seminars, projects and bachelor degree projects.

Credits

4 credits

Language of instruction

Czech, English

Semester

summer

Course Guarantor

prof. Ing. Jitka Mohelníková, Ph.D.

Institute

Institute of Building Structures

Forms and criteria of assessment

course-unit credit and examination

Entry Knowledge

Fundamentals in building constructions, fundamentals in physics, Acoustics and Optics.

Aims

- Professional knowledge:

The aim of the course is to introduce students to the fundamentals of building acoustics, focusing on the assessment of building structures regarding airborne and impact sound insulation requirements, the design of rooms and their interiors with respect to target reverberation times, the evaluation of indoor environmental requirements, and the design of buildings in relation to protection against external noise. Furthermore, students will be introduced to methods for assessing daylighting and sunlight exposure in buildings.

- Professional skills:

Students will learn to complete reports on assignments concerning building acoustics, daylighting, and solar access in buildings. The experience gained from  these reports will be valuable for their further studies and projects.

Professional competencies:

Students will be able to perform basic assessments of building acoustics, daylighting, and sunlight exposure as part of their projects and bachelor's theses.

Prerequisites

Fundamentals in building constructions, fundamentals in physics, Acoustics and Optics.

Offered to foreign students

To offer to students of all faculties

Course on BUT site

https://www.vut.cz/en/students/courses/detail/303376

Lecture

13 weeks, 2 hours/week, elective

Syllabus

Acoustics:

  • 1. Sound waves, sound field. Acoustics and physiology, basic notions, sound levels and loudness.
  • 2. Sound measurement, frequency band, frequency band analysis, noise report, hygienic limits.
  • 3. Urban acoustics, noise attenuation.
  • 4. Room acoustics, diffuse sound field, sound field.
  • 5. Absorptive constructions, membranes and oscillating plates, Helmholtz resonators. Sound insulation, rating of air-born and structure-born sound insulation.
  • 6. Air-born sound insulation, Watter’s method. Impact sound insulation of building constructions.

Daylighting:

  • 7. Solar radiation, insolation, requirements for insolation.
  • 8. Light and photometry. Methods of evaluation of daylighting in buildings, Daniljuk’s nomograms.
  • 9. Waldram’s diagram, BRS nomograms, average daylight factor.
  • 10. Daylight simulation software.
  • 11. Summary, importance of acoustics, daylighting and insolation for building design.

Exercise

13 weeks, 2 hours/week, compulsory

Syllabus

Acoustics:

  • 1. Introduction, sound waves, octave bands, frequences.
  • 2. Sound pressure, power and intensity levels.
  • 3. Equivalent noise level, noise histogram.
  • 4. Noise reduction due to distance, green bushes and walls. Noise reduction due to wide barrier.
  • 5. Reverberation time of a room. Recommendations for the room finishings because of the reverberation time reduction.
  • 6. Air-borne sound insulation of a building construction. Sound reduction index of a simple wall determined according to the Watter’s method.
  • 7. Impact-sound insulation of a building construction.

Daylighting:

  • 8. Assessment of a building insolation, shading diagram.
  • 9. Evaluation of a room daylighting with Daniljuk’s nomograms.
  • 10. Daylight simulation in software BuildingDesign.
  • 11. Preliminary report of noise, insolation and daylight conditions in a selected building.