Page 22 - CooperatorNews New York Expo May 2022

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Structural noise—the negative as- pect of structural sound—is the reverbera- tions that come through the actual building structure, as Marsh described above. The reviled ‘footfalls’ of your upstairs neigh- bor’s children or high-heeled shoes clack- ing against the floor at the same time every morning are the essence of structural noise. Solutions for these different types of noise vary in approach. In reality, the under- lying science behind the solutions is pretty much always the same: relax the string. An Unintentional History Urban multifamily housing can be divid- ed into three basic categories as far as sound is concerned. The first period stretches from World War I through the pre-World War II construction boom, and then on to the mid-1960s, when construction meth- ods began to change for both economic and technological reasons. The second period covers the years from the late 1960s through the early 1990s. The third period begins in the 1990s and brings us to the present. Older buildings, often referred to as prewar, were heavier, built with more lay- ers and solid materials. “Sound was less of an issue before World War II,” says Gaynor. “Buildings had plaster walls, used gypsum block, and \[had units with\] high ceilings. They also used lots of concrete fill, which is like rubble, so it’s pretty quiet. There are many layers.” According to Kevin White, Owner of Brooklyn Insulation and Soundproofing, which has offices in New York and New Jer- sey, “The old buildings were soundproofed by density. Everything back in the day was built solid, and extremely dense. The denser the floor or wall, the harder it is for that sound to transmit through.” Mid-Century Change From the late 1960s onward, however, “builders went for lighter-weight materials like sheetrock and studs, so you have much more sound transfer,” Gaynor says. This has led to more issues with both airborne and structural noise. According to Marsh, the level of noise in a building “has to do with math. And de- velopers aren’t using math in their projects. They build as they do because they can,” she says. “It’s all about the cost of the materials. A lot of developers on less high-end proj- ects won’t put in expensive materials. Con- sequently, there’s a poor quality of sound control.” White concurs. “We see how fast devel- opers are putting up new buildings, and with soundproofing it’s about quantity, not quality,” he says. “We see cheap materials that aren’t installed correctly in new units, and sometimes they don’t do anything to decouple the floors, which is bad for impact Neil Golub, director of sales for Carson Living, Inc., a provider of online services ranging from virtual doormen to mainte- nance and billing services for residential buildings, notes a few key components of any online communications module for co- op and condo communities: “There must be a marketplace to post items for sale and a space for community events,” he says. “It should be monitored and must never turn into a gripe board. A cutting-edge app of this type would also include something akin to a newsfeed for the community—again, prop- erly moderated, of course.” Disconnecting the Megaphone The online nastiness mentioned by Schuster and Golub doesn’t end with person- al attacks. In the world of real estate, it often extends to commentary sites. And a long list of complaints about your building on sites like Yelp is the last thing any co-op or condo community wants. “We are working on a project right now called Antenna,” says Schuster, “that will of- fer a whole new dimension to online-based community interaction. Residents will be able to leave comments on a social platform that can then respond to their problem, so it doesn’t get to the point where they just leave an angry, negative review. “As an example,” he continues, “say the owner of a recently purchased condomini- um finds that his or her air conditioning unit isn’t working. Say they moved in during the winter and never checked it. Now it’s hot, and they need AC. Who do they call? They try the super, and then perhaps the manage- ment. Management or the super may say, ‘It’s not my problem, or it’s a construction problem, and you need someone in the trade to correct it.’ The owner of the unit has no idea who to call. This new app will act like a customer hotline. Antenna will link your address and identity to determine whether it’s a sponsor problem, a management issue, or something else, and then determine who can best help you. It is algorithm-based and designed to short-circuit the negative com- plaint system. It allows everyone to get to the right person before it gets to the point of a negative complaint that lives forever on the internet.” And that, perhaps, is the most important thing for condo owners and cooperators to remember. Everything on social media lives forever—even the snarky review you left about your management company when you were frustrated over your air conditioner. So while using social media as a communi- cation or community-building tool might seem like an obvious choice, there may be better, indeed more neighborly ways to stay connected with your actual neighbors. n A J Sidransky is a staff writer/reporter for Co- operatorNews, and a published novelist. He can be reached at alan@yrinc.com. CO-OPS, CONDOS... continued from page 20 SOUNDPROOFING continued from page 1