In the article series “The ABCs of insulation” we don't want to create a lot of noise, but on the contrary fight it. Sound can bring a lot of joy to life, but it's important to keep the decibel level at a reasonable level.
Sound is a part of life, but everything has its limits
Sound enriches our lives, but there are certain sounds we'd rather not hear. For example, if you live in an apartment, you want to have privacy and spare your neighbors. It's not comfortable for anyone to hear the sound of every toilet visit or shower, every time the kids play or every relationship crisis coming through the walls.
Whether at home or at work, outdoors or indoors - it's almost everywhere! Space is probably the only exception, as sound does not travel through a vacuum. Sound is a mechanical movement of waves, which is perceived by the auditory system as the sound waves travel through the air to the ear. In addition to airborne sound, sound can also occur as vibration or structure-borne sound, if the vibration occurs in a solid object, such as the frame of a machine or appliance.
The aim is usually to isolate, dampen or reject sound and noise.
- With sound insulation, the goal is to prevent sound transmission from one room to another, either as airborne sound or through structures as structure-borne noise.
- With sound attenuation, the goal is to reduce sound energy.
- With noise reduction, we strive to reduce the effects of harmful sound. In addition to soundproofing and damping, the aim is also to prevent sound generation.
For a person to hear a change in air pressure as sound, the frequency of the change must be sufficiently high - at least about 16 times per second. The frequency of sound is expressed in Hertz (Hz). A sound above 16,000 Hz is ultrasonic and cannot be heard by humans.
Ambient sound is often a mixture of several sounds, and we usually perceive the combination of several sounds as noise. The unit of sound pressure is the decibel (dB), which expresses the intensity of the sound.
We combat noise in many different environments
Soundproofing involves reducing the sound power level when sound passes through an insulating structure such as a wall. Sound can either be absorbed into a material, pass through it, or be reflected from it.
Soundproofing is important because noise causes temporary and permanent hearing loss. Occupational noise exposure is responsible for approximately 16% of hearing loss in adults worldwide. In addition, noise has negative effects on both our sleep and our bodies, making it difficult to communicate through conversation.
Noise reduction is divided into three areas:
- General noise abatement reduces noise at workplaces.
- Neighborhood noise reduction is specifically aimed at combating noise from traffic or construction and industrial noise.
- HVAC noise and sound attenuation aims to combat noise from building equipment and HVAC.
Without insulation, technical equipment in buildings would generate a lot of noise and sound
Technical equipment generates noise and sound in the home and work environment, which makes it important to insulate them. You can partially or completely enclose a noisy machine or appliance. To dampen the sound coming from a duct, you can insulate with sound-absorbing materials.
Drains are a common source of sound and noise. The flow of wastewater mainly generates noise through the pipe. The primary sound sources are tees and bends, where sudden pressure differences occur.
To improve the sound attenuation of the pipe, you can choose a pipe of sound-absorbing material or with a higher wall thickness, or coat the pipe with an extra layer of, for example, Armacell ArmaComfort products, which are excellent for acoustic insulation of wastewater pipes.
Talk to us at ISOPARTNER about sound and noise reduction! We have what you need!
We'll be quiet for a while, but stay tuned - there's more to come!
This article was originally written and published by our Finnish sister company, Kespet Oy in collaboration with Armacell, and has been translated and adapted into Norwegian. Original title: Back to basics: Insulating sound and combating noise
Read part 1 of the article series here: Do you remember the basics of technical insulation?
Read part 2 in the article series here: Technical building equipment also needs care and insulation
Read part 3 in the article series here: Industrial insulation
Read part 4 in the article series here: Why do we need cold insulation?