Robert S. Berens

“Having worked in the engineering and environmental consulting industry for 15 years, I had seen BBN, and then Acentech, from the outside as a bastion of acoustical knowledge and integrity. When the opportunity came up to work here, I jumped at the chance. I thoroughly enjoy working with owners, architects, and other consultants to develop practicable and cost-effective solutions to often intractable problems.”

Bob Berens has more than 30 years of professional consulting experience in architectural acoustics, noise and vibration con­trol, and noise im­pact assess­ment and mitigation. He has consulted for countless commer­cial, institu­tional, industrial, residential, and governmental clients to achieve acceptable acoustical condi­tions in both interior and outdoor environments. He has worked on such diverse projects as high-tech laboratory and research facilities; fine arts and performance venues; high-rise, building-conversion, and assisted-living residential construction; office buildings; and teaching spaces for educational institutions. As such, much of his work has involved working with architects on sound isolation, room acoustics and reverberation control, and other issues related to architectural acoustics, and with mechanical engineers on the control of noise from HVAC and other mechani­cal systems.

Bob has also provided acousti­cal consulting services in a variety of industrial appli­cations, from breweries, bottling facilities and can-manufacturing plants, to forging plants, water and wastewater treat­ment facilities, electric power-generation and transmission facilities, and naval propulsion systems. In addi­tion, he has been involved in the assessment and mitiga­tion of noise impacts from theme/amusement park facilities, firing ranges, and sports and entertainment venues, and has provided litigation support and expert testi­mony for a variety of projects where noise and noise impacts were at issue.

Bob’s duties have encompassed all aspects of acoustical consulting, including conceptual and detailed design, site characterization studies and ambient noise monitoring programs, sound level predic­tion, noise impact assessment and mitigation, and licensing work, as well as post-operational and retrofit noise control. In addition, he has designed numerous compliance programs for meeting the acoustical require­­ments of various federal, state, and local regulatory bodies.

Bob’s Sound Bite

I am a fairly active and serious French horn player, playing in the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra and a number of chamber and community ensembles. As you might expect from a musician and acoustician, my biggest pet peeve is the use of sound bites and the concept that everything of any import can be reduced to a few out-of-context words.