Industrial Noise Control Industrial noise control is a growing concern in factories, industrial sites, manufacturing and mining facilities. The goal for industrial noise control is to promote hearing conservation while reducing noise levels for personnel to protect employees from hearing loss and increase industrial safety within the facilities. Companies are required to comply with industrial safety noise levels within OSHA or other governmental or insurance agency requirements. Enclosures and machinery enclosures are a very common treatment for industrial noise control requirements. Acoustical Solutions custom fabricates all of their industrial enclosures to meet the requirements of the environment that it is going into. The acoustical and machinery enclosures are typically made from sound blankets. These are very durable vinyl quilted blankets that can be suspended or floor mounted to form any type of industrial enclosure. Metal machinery enclosures are also available.

Noise Reduction Barrier Wall

The two-sided outdoor noise control barrier wall was manufactured in-house for a communications company using standard CMU and painted galvanized construction to meet wind load and architectural requirements was approximately 15'x12'X14' (H). The large barrier wall was installed on site to enclose a Generator Set unit. It provides the noise reduction necessary to accommodate close proximity neighbors and meet the city noise level requirements.

Custom Soundproof Barrier Wall for Chiller Unit

A Food Production company needed these outdoor noise control barrier wall in front of their chiller units to reduce noise from protruding to their neighbors. It is a multifaced outdoor barrier wall measuring approximately 12'x24'x 12”X16' (H).

Custom Designed Acoustical Metal Panel Enclosure

This enclosure is 4-sided with roof using the Stainless Steel construction. The photo provides an example of a fully pre-assembled enclosure with customized cutouts for around penetrations, i.e. Hoses, electrical, etc connected to pump. Upon completion of in-house manufacturing, this enclosure was shipped "assembled" to the customer.

Custom Soundproof Enclosure

This galvanized unit was purchased from a company in the plastic industry for use during the manufacturing of its products. It provided the required noise reduction as well as the total access required in the event there is a product jam. The design allows all sides to opened (as well the whole unit can be lifted.)  A site visit was required for accurate measurements. The unit was provided to the customer fully assembled with custom cutouts and eyebolts for lifting entire enclosure on and off over product processing equipment.

Specialized Acoustical Metal Panel Enclosure

This unit is of standard powder coated construction and was specifically designed for noise reduction and acoustical treatment of wood saaping equipment. Penetrations through an enclosure are not a problem due to a removable panel system with specialized cutouts. Notice the quick release fasteners and location of frame cutouts in the photo.

Noise Control Enclosure

These units were made for a water treatment company and were constructed using 18 Ga. Galvanized solid outer skin, 22 Ga. Galvanized perforated inner skin, 18 Ga. Galvanized channel and absorption material. Eight identical soundproof enclosures were manufactured in-house which consisted of  removable panels and a ventilation system (an air inlet and an air exhaust baffle with a fan) to allow air flow through the enclosure so the equipment won't overheat. Units were shipped fully assembled and each are approximately 4'x8'x8' (H) in size.

Twelve-door Soundproof Custom Enclosure

Standard Galvanized construction with structural tubing is used in the 12'x24'x16'(H) (approximate size) enclosure. This unit provides acoustical treatment of equipment, adequate noise control, and easy access to any side of the equipment at any time as may become necessary. Notice the horizontal and vertical structural supports for added rigidity when all twelve doors (including the crane rail) are opened at once. Once this enclosure was designed, manufactured in-house, and pre-assembled, it was "knocked down" for delivery to customer at time installation services were performed.

Removable Panel Soundproof Enclosure

These chemical plant oriented units are approximately 3'x5'x3'(H) and is constructed using 18 Stainless steel outer solid skin. It includes sliding glass doors and handles with quick-release fasteners so that the hoods can be easily removed for total access to equipment for maintenance. These enclosures were fully pre assembled, for shipment to the customer.

Custom Sound Enclosure

This custom sound enclosure was made for an industrial application and is of galvanized construction. It was pre-assembled at our facility so it can easily be reassembled. The enclosure has hinged front and back panels for easy access to equipment for maintenance. A fan and air inlet allows for outside air into enclosure.

Acoustical Pump Enclosure

This pump enclosure was made for a pump manufacturer and is constructed with 18 Ga. Galvaneal outer solid skin (to allow for paint adhesion) with 22 Ga. Galvanized perforated inner skin to provide noise reduction. It was pre-assembled at our facility with structural supports to allow entire enclosure to be lifted, so enclosure can be easily placed over pump as needed at various job site locations. The custom designed enclosure allows for acoustical treatment of pumps. Also notice the access doors located where hoses need to penetrate through enclosure allowing for easy connection of hoses to pumps in the field.

Custom Designed Acoustical Metal Panel Enclosure

This medium sized (approximately 8'x12'x8' (H)) unit was made for a school and constructed of standard Galvanized material for use around an air conditioner chiller unit for noise reduction. It was manufactured in-house with specialized cutouts. A site visit was required to measure for enclosure around indoor HVAC unit. Upon installation of this specific enclosure, an overall 30 dBA reduction was achieved. President Bush spoke on the stage above it the week after it was installed. He was able to address the students in the theater with no PA. Site measure-up, in-house manufacturing and installation services were all provided.

Acoustical Pump Enclosure

This pump enclosure was made for a pump manufacturer and was constructed with 18 Ga. Galvaneal outer solid skin with 22 Ga. Galvanized perforated inner skin to provide noise reduction. It was pre-assembled at our facility with structural support to allow entire pump and entire enclosure to be lifted. The enclosure and or pump can be lifted as needed at various job site locations. The custom designed enclosure allows for acoustical treatment of pumps. The pump and enclosure was manufactured with a frame structure for lifting the entire enclosure or pump at once.

Outdoor Acoustical Metal Panel Enclosure

Two identical four-sided acoustical metal panel enclosures, each measuring approximately 12'x20'x12' (H) were manufactured in-house for a steam turbine manufacturer. Each of these enclosures had sound attenuators for air inlet and air exhaust with a transition piece. Also, each enclosure had wall mounted lighting, electrical sub service, halon fire protection system, 4 standard hinged single doors, and removable roof panels. Therefore, in the equipment ever need to be lifted out of the enclosure, the roof panels can be easily removed. Once installed, these enclosures provided the noise reduction necessary for the operation of the plant.

Soundproof Custom Curtain System

This curtain system is made "super" portable by use of tubular frames on casters with acoustical curtain panels attached. It is 2-sided with a roof to provide maximum "portable" noise reduction.

Soundproof Curtain and Frame System

The most  effective, light weight industrial noise control system available. The frame bolts together with curtain panels attached for the absorption of noise from industrial equipment.

Sonex Industrial Noise Control Panels

These 2"x4" Sonex panels are used for noise reduction of large back-up generators. In the room shown, an 11 dBA noise reduction was achieved.

 Sonex Industrial Noise Control Panels

These 2"x4" Sonex panels are used as an acoustical treatment for boiler rooms by absorbing noise from the boiler, resulting in noise reduction inside the boiler room.

Mobile Soundproof Custom Metal Panel Enclosure

This is a movable in-plant enclosure (approximately 4"x4"x8"(H)) for use in atmospheres where the industrial noise control requires versatility. Usually in the food industry there are too many machines to acoustically treat each, acoustical in-plant offices provide mobility so employees could easily move to different areas as necessary to watch over the equipment. Notice casters on the bottom for ease in movement to the next area and windows for viewing the machinery operations.

Office Designs for Noise Reduction Proper office design will factor in the sound levels within the office space and determine where office noise reduction materials are needed. Office noise reduction requires the use of absorptive materials to reduce sound levels within the office space. Fabric wrapped and tackable sound absorbing wall panels are commonly used in office design. Soundproofing products such as sound barriers and door seals can also be used in office deign to increase privacy and security in executive offices, treatment rooms and conference rooms. Office spaces with good acoustical conditions result in higher employee productivity and a happier, more efficient office environment.

HIPAA Privacy Requirements HIPAA privacy compliance requires under the oral communications section that healthcare providers must take reasonable measures to insure that health information remains private. To be HIPAA privacy compliant you need to take precautions to make sure that medical information being shared from doctor to patient not be overheard. Healthcare providers must make reasonable precautionary steps to insure that medical information remains private. As required by HIPAA privacy compliance codes this covers health care providers, doctors offices, employees, vendors, service organizations, universities and healthcare plans. Many precautionary measures can be taken to make sure that your office is HIPAA compliant. Door seals can be added to existing doors to cut down the amount of sound that gets transferred to adjacent offices and hallways. noise barriers can be used to reduce the amount of speech being transferred from office to office. Fabric Wrapped Acoustic Panels can be added to help reduce the amount of ambient noise in the office while maintaining an aesthetically pleasing environment.

Swimming Pools During the design and construction phase of an indoor swimming pool planning should be done to control the ambient sound within the room. Most indoor swimming pool designs call for very hard reflective surfaces such as painted block walls and metal ceiling decks. Add to that the reflectiveness of the water and you will have problems with excessive reverb within the room. The goal during the design and construction phase of a swimming pool should be to add sound absorbing materials to reduce the reverberation (echo) in the room. Materials such as acoustical blanket or sound curtains and baffles work well to reduce the reverberation within the room and add color to the walls and ceilings within the indoor swimming pool.

Gymnasiums & Multipurpose Rooms The goal of noise reduction in large open rooms is to add sound absorption materials to reduce reverb within the room. Typically these large rooms have hard reflective walls and floors such as concrete block and there is a need for noise reduction. Adding noise control products such as hanging baffles or wall panels will increase speech intelligibility and reduce ambient noise during events for greater usage of the room. These sound absorption materials should be planned into the design of the gym or multipurpose room, however they can be added as a retrofit application as the need for noise reduction within the facility is addressed.

Treating Reverberation or Echo Problems in Your House of Worship Sound control in a house of worship is required for understanding the spoken word and full enjoyment of the church sound system. Typically, the large volume and hard surfaces in the newer architectural designs create excessive reverb, slap and flutter echo problems for the church sound system. This reverberation problem reduces the speech the and creates problems for the church sound system. Acoustical Solutions offers various ways of treating these problems while maintaining the aesthetic look that a church desires.

Classroom Acoustics Classroom design and layouts with good acoustics help students understand what educators are teaching and allows students to have a better understanding of the lessons with fewer distractions. Proper design and layout in a classroom environment will add acoustical wall panels or acoustical ceiling tiles to break up the hard wall and ceiling surfaces used in typical classroom environment.

Floating Walls & Floors Floating walls and floating floors refer to installing an isolated floor or wall from the framing or structure in order to reduce the resonant vibration energy within the wall or ceiling construction. By installing floating walls and floors you are reducing structure borne or impact noise, such as footfalls, cupboards and doors shutting etc., that is being transmitted through a building's structure. This type of floor and wall soundproofing is referred to as STC (Sound Transmission Classifications) and IIC Ratings (Impact Isolation Ratings).
 

Applications for floating floors and walls include the following: Apartments, condos and other residential settings where soundproofing is required to reduce unwanted noise coming through common walls and footfall or impact noise coming from above. There are also commercial applications for this type of wall and floor soundproofing such as testing labs, executive offices, conference rooms and more.

Firestopping The importance of maintaining the intended ratings of walls is paramount in the design and construction of buildings. Fire and acoustical transmission ratings severely affect the safety and comfort afforded by all types of dwellings found worldwide. Construction techniques and materials utilized must ensure that both fire and acoustical sound are limited in their propulsion throughout a structure, which they are, in a sense, contained. Compartmentalization of both the transmission of acoustical sound and fire can easily be achieved by selecting proper materials and construction techniques. The use of our products will not only assure the safety afforded by the containment of life threatening fire but will also ensure greater comfort levels achieved by limiting and/or eliminating the transmission of acoustical sound.Places to use Firestopping:

Courtrooms The goal of sound control and noise reduction in courtroom layout and design is to reduce reverb, which will then increase speech intelligibility. The standard layout and design of these courtrooms usually include hard surfaces for walls, floors and ceilings causing excessive sound reverberation (echo) within the rooms. A good courtroom design and layout should include sound absorbing materials to reduce the reverberation (echo) in the room while maintaining an aesthetically pleasing appearance within the courtroom.

Conference Room Design Proper conference room design and setup will factor in the sound levels within the room and determine where noise reduction materials are needed. Conference room and video conference room design requires the use of acoustical materials to reduce sound levels within the office space. Both acoustical ceiling tiles and fabric wrapped and tackable sound absorbing  wall panels are commonly used in conference room design. These acoustical wall panels come in many shapes, sizes and colors so that the customer will have many choices for the interior design of the conference room. Soundproofing products such as Sound Barriers and door seal kits can also be used to increase privacy, security and speech intelligibility in executive conference rooms and video conference rooms. Office spaces with good acoustical conditions result in higher employee productivity and a happier, more efficient office environment.

Computer Rooms Excessive noise levels are a growing problem in computer room design and construction. Computer server racks, towers, and CPU’s all have cooling fans built in. This computer fan noise is a high-pitched whine that reduces employee productivity and efficiency. To quiet that computer fan noise, sound-absorbing materials such as acoustical foams should be used in the design and construction of these rooms. Sonex acoustical foams, which are class 1 fire rated and fiber-free, should be used behind the server racks to pick up the first point of reflection from the noise of those computer fans. Also the Sonex foam panels and ceiling tiles can be used on the walls and ceilings to reduce the overall ambient computer noise within the room. These products can be used in the initial computer room design and construction phase or can be added later as a retrofit to quiet that computer fan noise.

Clean Rooms & Labs Clean rooms require washable, cleanable, dust and fiber free supply materials. Clean rooms usually are designed with hard and reflective floor and wall treatments, which create a high level of reverberation or echo leading to poor speech intelligetability within the clean room. There are several acoustical products and supplies that can be used in clean room design to reduce noise from equipment to create a better working environment. Acoustical Solutions offers clean room class 100 to class 1000 approved acoustical foams, wall panels and ceiling tiles that can be used with your clean room design to help soundproof your equipment.

Cafeteria Design Proper cafeteria design and layout should take into consideration what the room will sound like. Typically these large rooms have hard reflective walls and floors such as concrete block and there is a need for noise reduction. Adding acoustical products such as hanging baffles or wall panels will increase speech intelligibility and reduce ambient noise creating a more pleasurable environment. These sound absorption materials should be planned into the design of the school cafeteria, however they can be added as a retrofit application as the need for noise reduction within the facility is addressed. These acoustical treatments are not only effective, but also aesthetically pleasing.

Broadcast & Recording Studios Soundproofing an audio or music recording studio and control room requires isolation of sound between adjoining rooms as well as sound isolation in the audio or music recording area from mechanical or outside noise sources. NCPInc's Acoustical Solutions has the products to help you “float” your walls, ceilings and floors. Choosing the correct acoustical materials for soundproofing within the audio recording rooms, music recording studios, vocal boothes and editing rooms is also critical. Noise Control Products Incoffers a full range of Acoustical Solutions sound absorbers (acoustical foams, bass traps) to help reduce reverb and standing waves as well as diffusion products to help scatter sound waves and eliminate hot spots. Whether you are building a new recording studio, customizing or retrofitting an existing recording studio design you will find all the materials that you need to fulfill your recording studio design requirements.

Auditorium Acoustics The goal of noise reduction in large auditoriums is to add sound absorption materials to reduce reverberation (echo) within the room. Typically auditoriums and theaters have hard reflective walls and floors such as concrete block and there is a need for sound reduction. Adding sound control products such as acoustical wall panels will reduce ambient noise during events. These sound absorption materials should be planned into the design of the auditorium, however they can be added as a retrofit application as the need for sound reduction within the facility is addressed.

Architectural Acoustics Architectural acoustics deal with sound control and acoustical design in large spaces including auditoriums, arenas, theaters, lobby areas, swimming pools, and multipurpose rooms. Typical problems include excessive reverberation (echo), which causes poor speech intelligibility, and excessive noise during events. We try to match acoustical design and acoustical engineering with your design constraints and budget to lower the reverberation time (RT60) for increased clarity of speech and music. To help support our work with architectural acoustics and acoustic designs we have downloadable CAD drawing as well as 3 part CSI Architectural specifications available on our website for over 250 acoustical products, including acoustical wall panels and acoustical wall coverings.

Anechoic Chambers Anechoic chambers or anechoic rooms are used to achieve free field conditions. The testing environment must be free from reverberation, feedback and resonance. Our anechoic wedges can be used in aerospace, automotive, electronics, research, government and hard goods manufacturing rooms.

Noise Control Products offers Acoustical Solutions a line of 6” and 8” thick anechoic foam. The innovative wedge design offers increased surface area for exceptional acoustical performance. The anechoic foam is lightweight and installs seamlessly for a continuous panel look. Anechoic wedges are an excellent solution for applications that require high levels of sound absorption.

Noise Control in Animal Shelters Controlling animal noise and dog barking sound in indoor animal shelters requires reduction of the ambient animal noise level within the room itself. Generally, these animal shelters and dog kennels are treated with sound absorptive materials, which will lower the reverb or echo time within the rooms. Since you are never going to able to eliminate barking dog noise, the idea is make your walls and ceilings less reflective so that the barking dog sound does not continue to bounce or echo around the room. Outdoor runs cause sound transmission problems, generally with the neighbors complaining about the dog barking noise or animal noise. These need to be treated with sound blockers. In both instances, the acoustical materials are waterproof and easily cleanable

Apartment Buildings & Condominiums The idea of soundproofing a room in an apartment or condo for a quieter environment in your home is a very common and a very obtainable goal. In apartments and condos typical goals are to add soundproofing to walls, rooms or the entire home. The problems being addressed include unwanted noise coming through common walls, such as noisy neighbors, and footfall or impact noise coming from above. There are several products used in soundproofing a home including sound barriers and absorbers.

• Noise Pollution Clearinghouse
• Acoustical Society of America
• American Speech Language Hearing Association
• Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the U.S.A.
• National Council of Acoustical Consultants
• The National Hearing Conversation Association
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• OSHA – Noise and Hearing Conservation
• Other Links - Home Theater, Music and Construction Resources