Noise Protection

Protection against noise

Protection against noise is one of the highest demands on buildings today.
Realization of this requirement is a basic task for architects and civil engineers when planning and designing buildings. Besides protection from sound transmissions between individual apartments or office units, protection against exterior noises in particular is increasingly playing an important role.

Isover mineral wool absorbents contribute to effective sound insulation.
In addition to high standards related to building laws there are great expectations concerning sound proofing on the users side, demanding employment of effective absorbents and structural designs. Sound insulation also represents a priority assignment when planning shops, offices or factories. An important issue is sound proofing at work places inside buildings and protecting neighborhood from noise immission.

Acoustically effective material and design is required for meeting regulations pertaining to health & safety and immission protection. Isover mineral wool absorbents, in a number of fields of application in industry, trade and plant engineering, improve sound insulation thus essentially contributing to environmental protection.

This web site is meant to help architects and planners in their planning and dimensioning of sound-proofing work on buildings and technical facilities. A large collection of sound-proofing and sound-absorbing construction documents are available together with information on the acoustic efficiency of Isover's products. Besides explaining basics on the individual protection goals there is an overview on recommendations pertaining to sound proofing and noise immission. The web site concludes with a glossary containing the most important acoustical terms you'll need.

Living quietly at home

Most inhabitants of a house or apartment have but one key desire:
living quietly, with sufficient protection from undesired and disturbing noise from neighboring rooms or external noise. Noise pollution to which we are exposed every day largely results from high and ever increasing stress through external noise mainly deriving from traffic on streets, rails, and air traffic. Due to increasing compression in conurbations more and more occupants feel molested as a result of a multitude of traffic routes.
Studies in many countries prove that external noise generated by street and air traffic represents the major source of annoyance in the eyes of citizens.

The fact that noise causes illness does not only apply to continuous exposure to noise at high sound levels. It also applies to sounds that are much lower but that nevertheless lead to rest and concentration disorders due to their information content. Effects varry according to the person concerned. Evaluating noise control requires assessment of stressing background noise by external noise or noises generated in an apartment. Consequently disturbances transmitted from fellow occupants will be registered earlier in buildings with low external noise than in buildings at through roads with high background noise stress.

Protection against noise with Isover mineral wool absorbents

The goal of sound proofing measurements on buildings is to reduce noise exposure coming from outside or neighboring rooms. If effective noise control at the noise transmitting source is not feasible then you need to ensure, by measures of structural noise control, that living quarters and workrooms are protected against unacceptable noise. Protection from airborne noise transmission between individual rooms inside a building is one of the tasks of structural noise control. A further important task is reducing footfall (impact) sound transmission to neighboring living quarters, generated when walking on a ceiling or on stairs.

There are a number of technical noise sources inside residential buildings.
The multitude of possible sources of annoyance has drastically increased with household appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines. But service and technical equipment such as water and sewage facilities, ventilation and air-condition equipment, elevators and underground garages, often give cause for complaint.

A further basic task of noise control is sound absorption. In a room with one or more sound source, the noise exposure level can be effectively reduced by introducing sound absorbers. The range of Isover products offers suitable and effective solutions for all ranges of structural noise control.

This means:
Effective noise control from basement to roof both against external and internal noise.

Sound insulation of components

Noise control is understood as obstructing sound transmission between separated rooms. When sound transmission is exclusively effected through the separating component without flanking transmission, e.g. through a wall then we would address this as Sound Reduction Index R of that wall.
Sound Reduction Index R depends on the frequency of the incident sound.
It is measured in the frequency range 100 and 5000 Hz according to EN ISO 140.

Sound Reduction Index R can only be determined on standardized wall and ceiling test benches where flanking transmission is suppressed by flanking components that are positioned on the separating component side. It is essential to know in this context that Sound Reduction Index R is merely characterizing noise control of the tested, separating component not saying anything about what sound insulation will settle between rooms if this separating product is used.

Noise control between rooms generally depends on sound transmission through flanking components and other sound flanking paths. Therefore noise control between rooms in buildings is usually different from room to room even if the same separating component was used, as the flanking components have different shapes.

Acoustic protection between rooms

Noise control between rooms in buildings is determined by all components involved in sound transmission. This includes walls and ceilings, separating and flanking components, shafts and ducts as well as leakiness and structure-borne sounds. In most countries the Weighted Apparent Sound Reduction Index R'w (derived from structural in-situ Sound Reduction Index R' following EN ISO 171-1 standard) is used to characterize the quantity of noise control.

In the course of transposing European standardization, calculation methods following EN 12354 will be the basis of estimating acoustic performance.
The new standards in European countries pertain to European measuring and evaluation standards and confine component tests to test benches with suppressed flanking transmission only.

Isover mineral wool absorbents

Isover mineral wool absorbents are manufactured from siliceous melts using latest technologies. Advanced open-loop and closed-loop equipment ensure constant composition and thus optimum product quality. Isover's products are dimensionally stable, non flammable, non-ageing, have no hygroscopic response, and are chemically neutral.