Greetings,
The relevant table.1 (minimum composite sound transmission class ratings or noise isolation class for adjacent spaces) in this Acoustic Performance Credit requires minimum sound insulation values to be met for separating constructions between acoustically rated rooms. However, the credit does not specify whether the criteria can be relaxed if there is a door within the separating construction.
If the Credit wording is read as-is, it is suggesting that, for example phone booths (assumed as ‘confidential’ spaces in the table) adjacent to open plan workstation areas (collaborative / multi-use) require a 50dB doorset, as the area of the separating construction will be comprised mostly of the door.
This is impractical for office spaces, as it will likely require heavyweight specialist acoustic doorsets similar to what is found in recording studios.
Can anyone please clarify this matter and how to best approach it in a practical way.
Many Thanks.
Adam Paul
Senior AssociateLongman Lindsey
LEEDuser Expert
7 thumbs up
July 20, 2021 - 11:27 am
Mario,
We agree, STC-50 is a high level of performance that almost certainly requires a specialty acoustical door to achieve. The way the criteria is written using STCc and NIC is reasonably clear that door performance is included. That said, there are some important considerations for your situation:
With a sound masking system introduced and/or the adjacency classification adjusted, the criteria is then reduced by 5-10 points or more. There are more options to achieve NIC-35 to NIC-40 performance with a well-gasketed, insulated core swing door; this performance does not implicitly require the aforementioned specialty door.
-Adam