Q&A Article: how to control noise in lab

Hello:

Depending on the loudness of the noise and the nature or frequency range  of the noise, there are different approaches that should be used to reduce the sound and prevent neighbor’s complaints.  Both methods should be implemented in combination to achieve best results, because soundproofing of a laboratory, apartment, recording studio or a house is a cumulative project: each treatment adds on to the end result.

Sound absorption is important to reduce the sound pressure inside the room and sound blocking is important to reduce the sound escaping to your neighbors.

If the sound is sharp and loud, chances are it reflects off the walls and lingers for a while, so sound absorption is the first line of treatment that should be implemented.

Treat all reflective surfaces with soundabsorption blankets or panels, Acoustic felt panels from VocalBoothToGo.com. All surfaces, including ceiling, walls and if possible, the floor.

Sound absorption efficiency of a product is measured in NRC – Noise Reduction Coefficient, which shows how fast the sound was eliminated from a room after introduction of the sound absorption materials.

To absorb the sound  and cancel reflections and reverberations, we have several options:

Wall Treatment:

• Sound Blankets Producer’s Choice ( NRC -0.8; 80% sound absorption): depending on the height of the Lab ceiling you can use either 96” tall option or 120” tall option.  The Sound Blanket is the great way to treat the walls and windows.  We actually have specialized options for treating every surface of an apartment, studio or a lab:

  a) Wall treatment – Sound absorption: Producer’s Choice Acoustic Blankets or panels for soundproofing: These are 8 ft tall blankets designed to fit walls in a residential apartment from floor to ceiling; or for taller ceilings up to 10 ft high.
  
  b) Window treatment: We have specially designed double layer Window Noise control Panels ( WNC), that have NRC 1.0 ( 100% sound Absorption).

  c) Door Treatment: there are similarly structured double layer panels for doorways.
  and also custom designed Door Buddy – this is a special blanket that can be mounted on a door and allows the door to swing without removing the panel. So the panel rides right on the door itself.

  d) For the ceiling we have smaller sized blanket panels, we call the Sound Ceiling Baffle. These sound absorbing strips can be suspended off the ceiling in strategic location to capture the reflections off the ceiling.

• Ceiling Treatment:

  Acoustic Felt Panels ( NRC 0.95; 95% sound absorption). These panels also non-flammable.

Can be easily installed!

The acoustic Felt panels can be installed on the walls or on the ceiling. The advantage of this product, besides the  impressive sound absorption capacity of about 95% ( NRC – 0.95) they are very easy to install. They can be applied directly on the wall or ceiling without having to have a gap in between. These panels can also be decorated with an imprint of your logo or any image, so they will become not just a utility product, but also an esthetic addition to your lab or office.

Sound absorption will drastically reduce the sound pressure inside your lab room and it will definitely make your personnel more comfortable, but to stop sound from leaking outside an additional step needs to be taken: SOUND BLOCKING.

Unlike Soundabsorption products, that soak sound inside the room like a sponge, sound blocking products are a barrier. They are a wall that stops the sound.  This is why the efficacy of soundblocking materials is measure in STC – Sound Transmission Loss coefficient.

Unlike NRC , STC is measured and compare on both sides of the barrier. And the reduction in the sound level on one side of the barrier calculated as the STC of the material.

VocalBoothToGo.com  has several products that serve as a sound barrier for walls, windows and doors.  In essence they replicate the similar sound absorption products, but they have an extra layer of soundblocking core.  These products were tested and have STC 27.

1. To treat the walls, the best product is Wall Panel with Soundblocking core: https://vocalboothtogo.com/product/wall-soundproofing-sound-block-panels/

These panels have two sides: Blanket side – that supposed to be facing the interior of the room for Sound absorption and Nylon Side, that is protecting the soundblocking core and designed to be facing the wall. Normally we attach the hanging strip on the Nylon side of the panel, but if you want durability of the panel, (for example if things are exploding and the fragments can damage the blanket surface), we can customize the panels and install grommets, or place the hanging strip on the blanket side of the panel. This way you will be able to hang it with the Nylon side facing inside the room. The nylon side of the panel is very durable, it can withstand a lot of abuse.  We can also use 1000D nylon material (brown color) to make it even more indestructible.

       2. Please check:

      a) Door cover with Soundblocking core.

      b) Window covers with Soundblocking core.

• Floor treatment. The challenge with the floor treatment is that the floor is walkable, so the treatment must withstand the foot traffic and object placed on it. Rubber mats are usually a good way to treat the floor and prevent the vibration from equipment. It will also cancel some of the reflections.  We offer a special Sound-proofing Floor mats.  The advantage of this product is that it combines the flexibility of foamed rubber, Soundblocking ability of Mass Loaded Vinyl and rigidity of Linoleum tile.

as you can see we, at VocalBoothToGo.com, had developed products to help you control the noise from all directions.

Thank you,

Jeff.