Preventing Noise In The Conference Rooms

By Author: Kevin Richard
Total Articles: 244
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Acoustic panel design of a conference room should accomplish two things:

• Create an incredible acoustic ambiance for both inside the room and on audio devices such as speakerphones.

• Limit sound within the room so that what is being said within can’t be heard by people outside.

External noise

The basic step is to make sure that sounds transferred outside the room are not permitted to transfer into the room. Walls common should be considered having an STC of 55 or more according to the Noise Control Ordinance Law, and should extend to the structural deck on top. Ratings of high STC can be achieved through the use of resilient isolation clips and vinyl noise barriers, which add additional mass to the partitions and also disassociate them from the studs, reducing both airborne and structural noise.

Exterior noise can enter from any direction; hence floors and ceilings should also be of sufficient mass for blocking the noise. Sound will definitely transfer through the weakest ...
... structural aspects of the room, which are doors, windows and electrical outlets. Windows and doors acoustically rated are perfect. Nonetheless, the STC of the current doors can be improved with installation of acoustical door seal kits. The STC of the current windows can be improved by making sure that seals are in top condition and addition of extra panels of glass having airspace in between. Putty pads that are fire rating can seal the electrical outlets.

HVAC systems

HVAC systems are a general source of undesirable noise and their design and location should be considered before construction. The fan coil units and the air handlers should never be situated over a conference room. The size of the ducts should be adequate for not creating high air velocities. The selection of the air handlers should be with low ratings of sound level, and diffusers should have an NC rating of 25 or less. The utility of acoustic duct liner is to take in fan noise and avoid low frequencies from transferring through the duct walls. Installation of the best acoustic panels can be done to further reduce fan and mechanical noise and to remove crosstalk between spaces that share common duct.

NC rating

Noise Criteria (NC) is used to measure the serenity of the room according to the Noise Control Ordinance Law to measure the serenity of a room without occupants in the room and kind of HVAC running. All the above mentioned factors add to the regular NC rating of the room. For a conference room, the best NC rating is 35 dBA or below. Speech intelligibility starts getting impacted by anything higher.

In a conference room, consideration of the best acoustic panels is quite vital to offer a meeting space that is not only functional but also acoustically pleasant.