Mark Rustad is President of NetWell Noise Control, based in Minneapolis, MN. Founded in 1991, NetWell is a leading supplier of ceiling tiles, acoustic products, soundproofing treatments, and online acoustical consulting services. NetWell’s sound management skills are packaged into the industry’s premier website. For more information, please visit www.eSoundproof.com. Discover first hand why so much of NetWell’s business stems from the referrals and repeat orders they receive from satisfied clients around the world.
Putting inplant offices within industrial areas is a common practice as it helps shelter employees from temperature extremes, dust and sometimes noise. Depending upon your industrial environment, the inplant office’s construction, whether modular or site built, may or may not provide you with enough protection from unwelcome noise.
If your industrial inplant office is far too noisy, don’t despair, there are soundproofing treatments that work.
Ideally, to block sound, one would want to enclose the noise source rather than treat the path or recipient of noise. However, in industrial situations this is not always possible. The next best solution is to line the common surfaces of your inplant office with what is called the density+ disconnection formula. The goal is to block the transmission of sound from bleeding through a common wall or impair the wall’s ability to conduct vibration. This is accomplished by adding two components to your wall assembly; the first is density, the second is disconnection. The combination can force the collapse of sound waves and trigger up to a 90 percent drop in sound transmission.
To do this you can use dB-Bloc, ceiling caps and QBV blankets. The dB-Blocks line the walls or your existing office with this mass loaded vinyl. You can apply a set of horizontal firring strips or resilient channels, and sheet rock over the entire assembly.
If you have an existing drop grid ceiling tile system inside your Inplant Office, simply rest these Ceiling Caps atop your existing ceiling tiles to help place an acoustic "lid" over your room and combat the plant noise spilling in through your ceiling.
If you are unable to add dB-Bloc to your walls and frame them out, consider a custom cut set of QBV blankets to simply free hang against your common walls. The blankets are portable and can trigger 12-15 dB drops.
By properly applying the formula of "disconnection + density" to the walls and ceiling of your inplant office, you can reasonably expect to trigger an average 12-14 dB drop inside the office. Results will vary depending on a variety of issues such as original dB levels, frequency of the noise source, structural transmission through the floor, and airborne leaks through doors, windows, vents, fans, etc.
Most sound control products range in price from $2 to $14 per square foot. The cost associated with your project will clearly depend on the strategy you implement, the size of your facility, the strength of your noise source, and so on. There is no way to predict in advance what your treatment will go for, but protecting your employees work environment and increasing their productivity is well worth the investment.
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