2B — April 27 - May 10, 2018 — Owners, Developers & Managers — M id A tlantic
Real Estate Journal
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O wners , D evelopers & M anagers By Casey Murphy, NCIDQ, HF Planners Workplace Acoustics: Think outside the box
New Warehouse Construction at the Award-Winning Haines Center
A
s open office space be- comes more common, functional acoustics
of sound attenuation that a facility manager can control, or at the very least keep in mind, while managing a new project-- Absorption, Isolation, Masking and Space Planning. When discussing sound at- tenuation, we will reference two ratings systems- Sound Trans- mission Class (STC) and Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC). STC is used in the following applications: wall, ceiling, and window assemblies to define how much a given assembly is able to temper sound. NRC is used to designate an indi- vidual material’s ability absorb sound into itself. The simpli- fied version is that in general the higher the STC and NRC ratings will lead to a quieter office space. Absorption of sound will allow the reduction of noise through finish selections by in- creasing the NRC of materials throughout a space. With the increase of concrete and hard surface flooring, ample areas of carpeted flooring will help aid in sound absorption. For ceilings, while the basic solu- tion includes a dropped acous- tical ceiling in standard 2x2 grid, manufacturers are also
offering “Baffles”, “Clouds” or “Blades” to maintain the open look while providing a foil to the purely open ceiling. Overall, HF Planners recommends material choices for ceiling, walls, floors and panels that include Fi- berglass, Mineral Wool, Wool, Nylon, or Felt. The Isolation portion of noise abatement technique relates to the hard construction of your space. Space Planners should isolate high-noise areas by employing walls that contain airspace, gypsum board, and sound batten insulation. The best practice, if possible, would be to build new partitions, to the deck of your space with sound batten fill and double gypsum board sheathing. Done properly, this can help a 5 ½” partitions reach an STC rating of 56 (United States Gypsum Company). When full height partitions are not an option, such as in interior retrofits with existing partitions, HF Plan- ners often details a “sounds blanket” of R13 insulation installed for 24” in each direc- tion past the existing partition to raise the STC rating of your existing partitions. continued on page 22B
are becoming less so. With the removal of traditional framed walls, ceilings and s o f t p a n e l s y s t e m s - - bench style work stations
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and open ceilings become more popular, designers are finding a need to think outside the stan- dard box. Sound generated by densely packed employees has no place to go, and is bounced all over the space, creating Noise. Noise is detrimental to a productive workforce, in the form of decreased productivity and focus with increased stress (LoBosco). Often this problem is not addressed until after a new design has been constructed and the workforce has moved in. Whether this is an over- sight, or scope is reduced due to costs or aesthetics, the key is to combat the issue before it becomes an employee com- plaint and adds additional costs to the project. HF Planners takes a broad look at methods
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