"Tetris" on the child-care center ceiling

Transcription

1 Property Report Kempenich: A wood-wool light-weight board manufacturer equips a child-care center with a new acoustic ceiling "Tetris" on the child-care center ceiling Shouting, singing, jumping, running, and moving chairs - the noise in the multi-purpose room of the Catholic child-care center in Kempenich (Eifel region) was unbearable for educators as well as for parents and children. The reverberating words made parents' evenings or theater performances a torture and two-year olds could not rest and get their midday nap. With the new acoustic ceiling made of wood-wool light-weight boards the reverberation times have been reduced by more than 2 seconds. And the design is likely to convince creative planners. Remember "Tetris"? For ceiling renovations in educational institutions it is not only a case of improving the acoustics, but also how to minimize health hazards, which employers and supporters of child-care centers are obliged to observe. The noise exposure for the staff and the children has been neglected here for a long time. In the discussion about the quality of education, the conditions should also be considered, where learning and raising children takes place. In addition to a health-promoting structure and organization of child-care centers as well as effective educational measures, the optimization of room acoustics is crucial for a meaningful noise prevention and reduction. Although the average measured noise levels in child-care centers do not cause any permanent hearing damage, however, it does interfere with the attention, the ability to concentrate and performance of the children. Page 1 of 9

2 "Due to the noise level our educators have to use a constantly raised voice to make their voices heard by the kids", reports the child-care center director Andrea Schmickler. Before the job could be issued to the insulation manufacturer, the agreement from the parish and supporter, the Catholic parish of St. Philip and James in Kempenich, had to be obtained. The photorealistic 3D design proposals were quite convincing. These were provided by the advertising agency Knobloch Technik+Design GmbH which specializes for the construction industry, they are located in Palatine Edingen-Neckarhausen near Heidelberg. The task was to integrate the five colors used by the five care groups blue, yellow, orange, red and green into the ceiling design of the common room, right at the beginning. Inspiration for the geometric look of the ceiling was the puzzle-like computer game "Tetris" from the 80s, whose angular shapes and bright colors are fully back in vogue while also bringing to mind the building blocks you play with. To prove the acoustic improvement in numbers, the office of Acoustics and Engineering - BAE Fiedler from the Hessian Lahnau was commissioned to perform before and after measurements of sound levels. DIN "Acoustic quality in small to medium sized rooms" describes the different room usage types and volumes of space for optimized reverberation time for the appropriate application. A distinction is made between the three types of use music, language and education. For the child-care center multi-purpose room, the usage applied was education. They used measuring equipment such as a noise generator, microphone, microphone preamplifier, power amplifier, dodecahedron and special software for data processing. Pink noise was used as sound signal, whereby the measurement range for the evaluation was between 100 Hz and 5,000 Hz. The permitted reverberation time for the measured area with a volume of approximately 175 m 3 had a target reverberation time according to DIN 18041:2004 of %. This requirement was not met by the existing ceiling. Engineer Bernd Fiedler, Dipl. Ing.: "Due to the very unfavorable combination for sound development consisting of the room geometry, the smooth wooden ceiling and the likewise smooth and hard floor, it was a major challenge to improve the reverberation times. An open porous material that absorbs sound, which has the popular name Page 2 of 9

3 "sauerkraut boards" due to its structure, with mineral wool behind, was the most optimal solution". Mr. Luhr of Fibrolith adds: "For this reason, we choose a multi-layered ceiling structure with different materials. The branching structure of the wood-wool boards and the underlying mineral wool literally swallow the sound waves." The acoustic boards visible from below are mineral bonded wood-wool light-weight boards with the product name Fibro-Kustik** in white cement with small bevels and a thickness of 25 mm. For this board formats of 1200 x 600 mm were used; in the edge area cutouts were used based on a precise installation plan. In order to provide a brighter and friendlier appearance for the room, the acoustic boards were painted white or individual boards were painted a different color; this was performed at the factory. According to the manufacturer, all RAL colors are possible. But not only the acoustic aspect was decisive for the child-care center and the parish support, but also the natural and biologically acceptable material wood-wool. According to the company's Web site, the boards are PEFC *** certified, this means that the production where woods are used come exclusively from sustainable forestry. Once the planning, organization and board production was completed, the local carpenter Josef Gross could begin with the removal of the old wooden ceiling and with the installation of the new acoustic ceiling. To install the ceiling, the existing wooden substructure could be partially used where the mineral wool boards could be inserted or clamped in the spaces between. Subsequently, the wood-wool acoustic boards were bolted with Fibro-Kustik drywall screws. Mrs. Schmickler on her new ceiling: "Before, it was very noisy in the room. Even the loud voices of the children were difficult to understand. For this reason everybody just spoke louder, which was very tiring and exhausting for all. It was as if everyone was speaking against each other, because you could not understand everything. Now everyone can speak in the room with normal volume and understanding is significantly better. When the groups use the room for singing it is now much better and also more fun for the children. It is much more relaxing for everyone." A colleague added: "This is now like a holiday for the ears and the kids love the bright colors and shapes." The measurements carried out on the reverberation time by BAE Fiedler showed a reduction after the installation of new acoustic Page 3 of 9

4 ceiling. The reverberation in different frequency ranges reduced by more than two seconds, and the requirements of DIN were then fulfilled. This provides, in particular in terms of significantly improved speech intelligibility, a considerable improvement of the room acoustics (chart). After the multi-purpose room can now be used again to the full, the Kempenich insulation company even received a touching letter of thanks from the child-care center director Mrs. Schmickler who gave her permission to include the letter with this object report. Image 1 (see folder Images): The comparison clearly shows the improvement of the reverberation time by more than 2 seconds. Page 4 of 9

5 Image 2a (see folder Images): Almost photo-realistic 3D design draft of the new acoustic ceiling. Remember "Tetris"? Image 2b (see folder Images): Almost photo-realistic 3D design draft of the new acoustic ceiling. Remember "Tetris"? Page 5 of 9

6 Picture 3 (see folder Images): Old wooden ceiling, which was largely responsible for the poor acoustics in the child-care center room. Picture 4 (see folder Images): Right: The gaps in existing wooden substructure was filled with mineral wool as additional sound insulation. Links: Ready mounted Fibro- Kustik boards Page 6 of 9

7 Image 5a (see folder Images): New multi-colored acoustic ceiling in the RAL colors of the five child-care groups Image 5b (see folder Images): New multi-colored acoustic ceiling in the RAL colors of the five child-care groups Page 7 of 9

8 Picture 6 (see folder Pictures): Appealing ceiling optics with fine wood-wool structure and beveled edges Thank-you letter from the child-care center director Page 8 of 9

9 Image sources: Fibrolith Dämmstoffe GmbH *Fibrolith The Fibrolith Dämmstoffe GmbH is a subsidiary of Siniat GmbH and a company of the global Etex Group. With innovative and environmentally friendly production Fibrolith annually produces hundreds of thousands of proven wood-wool light-weight and multi-layer boards for thermal, acoustic and fire protection applications - made in the Eifel (Kempenich, Germany). "Naturally wood-wool" is not only the motto of the brand Fibrolith, but also stands for the natural resources of the insulation boards out of mineral bound wood-wool. **Fibro-Kustik The acoustic boards Fibro-Kustik WW according to DIN EN 13168, WW DI dm / WI dm, due to its sound-absorbing wood-wool structure offer ideal solutions for improving room acoustics - whether as ceiling panels, partitions, wall elements or as a full-surface wall and ceiling linings. The boards are flame retardant B-s1, d0, nonsmoldering and ecologically harmless. The fire-resistance class depending on the substructure is F 30 to F 180. Fibro-Kustik boards are available with fine (approx. 2 mm) and super-fine wood-wool structure (approx. 1 mm). The basic colors are white cement and gray cement, whereby Fibrolith can provide the boards with any RAL color on request. ***PEFC certified PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) is the largest institution for ensuring and marketing sustainable forest management through an independent certification system. Timber and timber products with the PEFC seal are known to originate from ecologically, economically and socially sustainable forestry. Fibrolith emphasizes the responsible use of resources and in line with its PEFC certification an active contribution to the preservation of forests. Fibrolith Dämmstoffe GmbH An der L83 D Kempenich Tel.: Fax: info@fibrolith.de Internet: Fibro, the mascot of Fibrolith Dämmstoffe GmbH from Kempenich explains to architects, processors, builders' merchants and homebuilders the benefits and properties of insulation boards made of natural wood-wool for thermal, acoustic and fire protection. At or on YouTube under Page 9 of 9