For a project, we are dealing with the following situtation: we have small meeting rooms, situated (as "boxes") in an open-office plan. If we look at sound transmission, this is a situation which isn't listed in the v4 credit, we are assuming that we should compare it with a conference room - conference room situation. That would mean an STC of 50.
However, considering practical uses, this level seems to be (unrealistically) high, especially considering the doors in the wall partition. STC 50 with a (closed) wall can be achieved, but even high STC doors won't achieve an STC of more than 45, as far as I am aware of. Furthermore, it goes way beyond (realistic) usability of these spaces.
Would this, however, mean that the credit is definitely not achievable? Or am I mistaken in my interpretation?
Daniel Hicks
Daniel Hicks, E.I., INCEGeiler & Associates
267 thumbs up
February 4, 2015 - 2:59 pm
The credit asks for a Composite STC rating. This essentially means the Transmission Loss of the Wall in addition to the Transmission Loss of the door, averaged based on their respective areas. (please forgive me if you already knew this.)
So you won't need an STC 50 rated door assembly but it will still be hard to achieve an STC 50 composite rating unless you have a large wall area with a high STC rating and a small, standard STC 35-40, door.