Assessment of Acoustic Properties of Traditional Building Materials in North East Nigeria for Noise Control

Traditional and vernacular building materials used in North East Nigeria, including mud brick, thatch, guinea corn straw, and timber, have not been systematically characterised for their acoustic properties, limiting their consideration in evidence-based noise control design for schools, health centres, and community buildings. This study assesses the sound absorption and sound transmission loss of five traditional building material systems prevalent in Adamawa and Gombe states using impedance tube and reverberant room measurement techniques. Mud brick walls of 150 and 300 mm thickness, grass thatch roofing panels, and bamboo-mud composite walls are prepared as test specimens and measured following ISO 10534 and ISO 140 procedures. Sound absorption coefficients are measured at one-third octave frequencies from 125 to 4000 Hz. Results indicate that thatch roofing achieves absorption coefficients of 0.62 to 0.78 in the mid-frequency range, providing effective noise control for school classrooms. Mud brick walls of 300 mm thickness provide transmission loss of 38 to 42 dB across speech frequencies, comparable to modern brick masonry. The study provides an acoustic performance database supporting sustainable design with traditional materials in North East Nigeria. Keywords: acoustic properties, traditional building materials, sound absorption, transmission loss, North East Nigeria