Why RT60 Matters in Offices
In offices and meeting rooms, excessive reverberation smears speech and raises noise. Controlling RT60 — the time for sound to decay by 60 dB — keeps speech intelligible and spaces comfortable.
Design Principles
- Smaller, harder rooms reverberate more relative to their size; they need proportionally more absorption.
- Meeting rooms used for speech and video calls benefit from shorter RT60 than larger multi-purpose rooms.
- Balance absorption across the room rather than concentrating it on one wall.
What Affects the Target
The appropriate RT60 depends on room volume, use, and the specific design goal. There is no single universal number. As a rough reference, speech-focused rooms are typically designed to shorter reverberation times than large halls, but the correct target should be set per project (and per the relevant guideline) rather than taken as a general rule.
How to Achieve the Target
- Add absorptive treatment to the ceiling (baffles, clouds, acoustic ceiling) and upper walls.
- Use the Sabine estimate (RT60 ≈ 0.161 × V / A) to size the required absorption area, then confirm by measurement where practical.
- Treat first-reflection points near the table and screen for speech clarity.
Relevant Standards
- ISO 3382-2 — measurement of reverberation time in ordinary rooms.
Limitations
RT60 is one of several room-acoustic parameters; speech intelligibility also depends on background noise and signal-to-noise ratio. Design estimates should be confirmed by measurement.
Related Yamamah Solutions
For RT60 design for your office or meeting room, contact us for a free acoustic consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What RT60 should a meeting room have? It depends on volume and use; set the target per project guideline and confirm by measurement, rather than using a single universal number.
Do I need to measure RT60? Measurement confirms the design and is recommended for critical spaces.
Verified Sources
- ISO 3382-2 — Reverberation time in ordinary rooms.