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INSULATION Turning the sound down
As higher density living becomes more common, nuisance noise and its possible impact on health is becoming an all-important topic. With one of the most invasive irritations being impact sound, Chris Willett of Schöck describes an innovative solution for staircases
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t will come as little surprise that social surveys across several European countries indicate that noise from neighbours in residential complexes causes annoyance to varying degrees. The type of noise can take various forms of course, but a particularly invasive irritation is impact sound. Footsteps on common stairs and stairwells is a typical example, transmitting sound through solid structures and cavities in the building.
This can become more than just an annoyance however, and a number of health studies have looked into the different effects of ‘community noise’ on individuals. The findings are wide-ranging, but suggest that regular noise interference can result in symptoms such as sleep loss, headaches, anxiety and loss of concentration, and in some cases raised blood pressure and even an increase in the potential for aggressive behaviour. So with the inevitable move towards higher density living in many European towns and cities, appropriate acoustic performance standards are becoming more important than ever for residents.
FOOTSTEPS Impact sound is a particularly invasive irritation
Urban living on the rise There is, however, considerable disparity between UK mandatory acoustic standards and those in many parts of Europe. This is possibly a result of the historical differences in dwelling types. In the UK only 14 per cent of the population have traditionally lived in apartments, one of the lowest European percentages, whereas the average for apartment living across Europe is 48 per cent and in many cases higher. In Germany, for example, it’s over 60 per cent. However things are changing in the
UK, where urban and therefore primarily apartment living, is dramatically on the rise. According to the Office of National Statistics, between 2002 and 2015 Liverpool was the fastest growing city centre, with a population increasing by 181 per cent. Other cities are close behind, examples being Birmingham, with a city
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centre growing by 163 per cent, as well as Leeds – by 150 per cent, Manchester – 149 per cent and Leicester – 145 per cent. In terms of sheer numbers, the fastest growing city centre was London, but due to overall population density this amounted to a relatively low 22 per cent increase.
Soundproofing standards under scrutiny
This level of urban migration is resulting in a marked increase in the density of residential living and, in the interests of noise health protection, existing manadatory soundproofing standards (of which common stairs and impact sound is an important feature) are coming under ever-increasing scrutiny. Currently, Part E of the Building Regulations recommend performance standards for “separating walls, separating floors and stairs that have a separate function” as being less than or equivalent to 62 dB. The European average for staircases is around 53 dB, in some individual cases even stricter. This is significant when you consider that for human hearing, a 10 dB difference is equivalent to twice the amount of noise disturbance. The first ever standard in Europe to specify a test procedure for impact sound insulation elements was published in Germany in 2016. (DIN 7396). This was a standardised laboratory test procedure for acoustically measuring isolation systems for solid staircases.
A basis for verifying acoustic insulation
DIN 7396 specifies a test with realistic configurations and typical building loads on staircases. The weighted normalised impact sound pressure level (L‘n,w) as defined in DIN 7396 can be used as a basis for verifying acoustic insulation in buildings. This is fine in principle, but in reality, during the construction process soundproofing solutions are often used that do not comply with longer term requirements. Individual elastomer supports
ADF FEBRUARY 2019
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