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2025 Vol.19, Issue 6 Preview Page

Research Article

An Empirical Study on the Effects of ‘Targeted Airtightness Reinforcement’ on Reducing Inter-unit Airborne Sound

‘취약부 기밀 보강’의 세대 간 공기전달 소음 저감 효과에 관한 실증 연구

Jong-Il Park1
,
Min-Ju Kim2
,
Su-Gwang Jeong3*
박 종일1
,
김 민주2
,
정 수광3*
1Senior Researcher, Passive House Institute Korea, Seoul, Korea
2Associate Researcher, Passive House Institute Korea, Seoul, Korea
3Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Soongsil University, Seoul, Korea
1(사)한국패시브건축협회 책임연구원
2(사)한국패시브건축협회 선임연구원
3숭실대학교 건축학부 조교수
*Corresponding Author
30 December 2025. pp. 428-439
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Abstract

This study aimed to empirically validate reduction methods for inter-floor noise, a critical residential issue in apartment buildings, specifically focusing on airborne sound transmitted through gaps such as pipe ducts. A “targeted airtightness reinforcement” intervention was implemented on bathroom pipe ducts and electrical inlets within a single unit in an actual living environment (Living Lab). The airtightness performance (n50) of the entire unit and the inter-floor airborne sound insulation performance (D) of two bathrooms were measured and compared before and after the intervention, in accordance with KS F ISO 16283-1. The results indicated that the airtightness performance of the entire unit showed a marginal improvement of approximately 2.3%, changing from 2.20 ACH before construction to 2.15 ACH after construction. In contrast, the sound insulation performance improved by 1.9 dB (from 50.3 dB to 52.2 dB) in the master bedroom bathroom and by 1.2 dB (from 49.5 dB to 50.7 dB) in the secondary bedroom bathroom. These findings suggest that reinforcing “local acoustic weak points,” which serve as key noise transmission paths, yields substantial and significant effects on inter-floor noise reduction, even with minimal changes to the overall airtightness of the unit.

Keywords
Apartment building
Airborne sound
Wall penetration
Airtightness performance
Sound insulation performance
키워드
공동주택
공기전달음
벽체관통부
기밀성능
차음성능
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Information
  • Publisher :Korean Institute of Architectural Sustainable Environment and Building Systems
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국건축친환경설비학회
  • Journal Title :Journal of Korean Institute of Architectural Sustainable Environment and Building Systems
  • Journal Title(Ko) :한국건축친환경설비학회논문집
  • Volume : 19
  • No :6
  • Pages :428-439
  • Received Date : 2025-11-19
  • Revised Date : 2025-12-06
  • Accepted Date : 2025-12-16
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.22696/jkiaebs.20250037
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