Insulation is a sound choice to support wellbeing – ROCKWOOL

With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing many people to work from home, a greater understanding of how noise can impact on people’s comfort and wellbeing is being established; Will Wigfield, Product Manager at ROCKWOOL, explains how stone wool insulation can reduce the impact external noise has on our lives.

“We’re becoming more sensitive about the intrusion of noise in our everyday lives, especially as we are currently spending more time in our homes than ever before.

With an ever-increasing demand for housing and the need for space efficiency, many of today’s residential units are built in close proximity to significant sources of noise.

Whether its road traffic, railway networks, air traffic or even other construction sites, noise pollution is having a greater impact on our lives and our sense of comfort and wellbeing.

A World Health Organisation (WHO) study found that at least one million healthy life years are lost every year in Western Europe as result of exposure to environmental noise.

This means that noise is the second largest environmental cause of ill health, after air pollution. Noise also has financial consequences with WHO estimating that total health costs are around £2-3 billion per year.

Modern methods of construction, such as, ventilated rainscreen systems are becoming an increasingly popular approach for architects and specifiers designing multi-unit residential blocks, office blocks, hotels and multiuse developments.

Whilst ventilated rainscreen systems offer many significant benefits, determining the actual level of acoustic performance afforded by these lightweight systems can be a challenge.

Architects and specifiers are calling out for acoustic performance data for products that make up the building envelope to ensure they are providing a solution that fits modern acoustic requirements.

A lack of acoustic test data on the market can make this selection difficult. It can lead to over- engineered systems which incorporate additional mass layers.

In meeting the need for data, ROCKWOOL has carried out a number of acoustic tests and produced a technical document detailing sound reduction performance that can be achieved by using stone wool insulation in rainscreen systems.

ROCKWOOL’s Rainscreen Acoustic Performance Guide provides a great advantage for architects who are looking to provide the best finish possible for their clients.

Unique to the sector, the guide looks at the rising impact of noise in urban environments and explains how rainscreen cladding with sound insulation can minimise this problem.

It gives reliable acoustic test data enabling the right rainscreen cladding solution to be selected with complete confidence that it will perform in its selected application.

The test results show that when used within a rainscreen cladding system on a typical SFS substrate, RAINSCREEN DUO SLAB achieved up to Rw 62 dB. The testing also demonstrated that reducing two layers of plasterboard to one layer resulted in no drop in Rw.

This is reassuring for building occupants, as it means that as long as a ROCKWOOL rainscreen solution is specified and correctly installed, they can benefit from a comfortable and healthy living and working space.

Thanks to its dual-density properties and improved ratio of fibres to trapped air pockets, ROCKWOOL DUO SLAB actually absorbs sound energy as it travels towards the occupant.

It effectively traps sound waves and dampens vibration to provide an enhanced noise reducing solution in rainscreen applications.

ROCKWOOL has also included its new test data into an acoustic calculator, which gives architects and specifiers a simple and effective way of working out the acoustic performance of insulation installed on walls, floors and roofs.

We all recognise that excessive noise can be a major nuisance. But, even at lower levels it can compromise our attention spans, raise stress levels and adversely affect our lifestyles and our well-being. Insulation can have a major impact on reducing noise pollution so let’s take advantage of the benefits.”

Contact:

ROCKWOOL,
Pencoed,
Bridgend,
United Kingdom,
CF35 6NY

Phone: 01635 862621
Fax: 01656 862302

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