High Sound Absorption is very important in open office spaces, lobbies, passages, boardrooms and theatres where people need to talk normally without affecting others in the rest in the space.

High Sound Absorption distributed throughout the space also significantly reduces flanking noise between rooms, so people can easily talk to each other without disturbing people in the room next door.

Sound absorption is the measure of the energy removed or energy reduction of the sound wave as the wave passes through a given thickness or type of material. Sound absorption is necessary for soundproofing.

While distributing the sound wave into an absorbable material, the sound wave in addition to absorption could also experience sound wave reflection, as energy dissipate and displaces. Dampening or vibration or energy loss results as the energy-dissipated is converted into heat.

Soundproofing makes (a room or building) resistant to the passage of sound or prevents sound from traveling. Soundproofing products block sound from leaving or entering a room, and consist of dense layers inside walls, between floors and above basement ceiling drywall.

Soundproofing ideally occurs in early construction, as it can be a challenge to soundproof a room once the construction is completed.

Sound absorption involves the absorption of sound. Sound absorption happens when the sound waves is absorbed by a material Sound absorption enhances the space’s sound quality as it reduces unwanted noise and dampens sounds, like echoes and reverberation vibration. Sound absorption products can be temporary and non-permanent, unlike soundproofing products (and layers). Acoustic fabric wall panels are one such sound absorption product, and this is our focus in this feature.

Sound is created by the vibration of substance and is spread by sound wave produced through the sympathetic vibration of the medium. When sound is spreading, part of it is gradually diffused and part of it is weakened due to the absorption of air molecules, which are more apparent in the open air; but in indoors sound is much less diffused or weakened, instead it is mainly absorbed by the surface of materials.

When a sound wave meets the surface of a material, part of it is reflected, part of it passes through the material, and the rest of it is transferred to the material. The part of sound wave transferred to the material enters the pores of the material and causes the friction and viscosity resistance between the air molecules and the wall of pores, thus certain part of sound energy is converted into heat energy and is absorbed in this way.

The sound absorption coefficient is used to evaluate the sound absorption efficiency of materials. It is the ratio of absorbed energy to incident energy and is represented by α. If the acoustic energy can be absorbed entirely, then α = 1

NB: The air gap between the acoustic layer and the space behind increases the sound absorption coefficient value in the mid and higher frequency ranges

The density of the acoustic material is also important. Less dense and more open structures absorb the sound of low frequencies (500Hz) while the denser structures perform better for frequencies above than 2000 Hz range

Acoustic Diffraction

The fact that you can hear sounds 'around corners' and 'around barriers' involves both diffraction and reflection of sound. Acoustic diffraction helps sounds 'bend around' corners or through door openings, allowing us to hear others who are speaking to us from adjacent rooms. A great example of acoustic diffraction is ripples of water reaching an object or obstruction of different sizes. Wave formation 'bend around' varies. All waves display diffraction, not just sound waves.

Acoustic Reflection

Sound waves reflect off harder surfaces the same way snooker balls bounce off the edges of a pool table—the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. A sound wave hitting a flat wall at 45° will reflect off it at 45°. These bounces will continue back and forth until the sound wave has dissipated by inefficient reflection (called damping) of the surfaces along with the normal dissipation of the sound waves themselves.

A NRC is an average rating of how much sound an acoustic product can absorb. An NRC of zero means that the product absorbs no sound. An NRC of 1 means that the product absorbs all the sound. The higher the NRC, the better the product is at absorbing the sound.

A .90 or .95 NRC rating. A Noise Reduction Coefficient of .90 or .95 means our panels are big sound absorbing sponges, absorbing 90% or 95% of the noise, creating a more pleasantly sounding environment.

Formaldehyde is a colourless, strong-smelling gas. It is widely used in the manufacture of building materials and many other household products.

Some unfortunately are still using it in homes as an adhesive resin in some compressed wood products. Building materials made with formaldehyde resins can radiate formaldehyde gas.

Formaldehyde exposure has various bad side effects Formaldehyde has a link to some forms of cancer in animals and humans.

When present in the air at levels at or above 0.1 ppm, acute health effects can occur including watery eyes; burning sensations in the eyes, nose and throat; nausea; coughing; chest tightness; wheezing; skin rashes; and other irritating effects. The World Health Organization recommends that exposure should not exceed 0.05 ppm.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short - and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. VOCs are emitted by a wide array of products numbering in the thousands.

Organic chemicals are widely used as ingredients in household products. Paints, varnishes and wax all contain organic solvents, as do many cleaning, disinfecting, cosmetic, degreasing and hobby products. Fuels are made up of organic chemicals. All of these products can release organic compounds while you are using them, and, to some degree, when they are stored.

The method used to calculate how much sound is reflected in a room by using a metric called the absorption coefficient. The Absorption Coefficient measures of how much sound is absorbed, and is not reflected.

The absorption coefficient ranges between zero and one, one meaning no sound energy is reflected and the sound is either absorbed or transmitted. For example, an opened exterior window has the absorption coefficient of one because no sound returns to the room. An effective absorber will have a sound absorption coefficient greater than .75.

• Absorption – Trapping of sound waves
• Acoustic Baffles – is an acoustic dampening structure that reduces the strength of airborne sound. Acoustic Baffles designed to suspend vertically from ceilings. See Live Textile: Fabric Acoustic Baffles for more information.
• Ambient Noise – in the work place is generally irritating background noise that can come from many sources like air conditioning, outside traffic, a noisy adjacent office, nearby construction and people’s voices.
• Damping – Dissipates vibrational energy before it can build up and radiate as sound
• Diffusion – Scatters the sound waves in different directions
• Distance – The greater the distance, the quieter the noise sounds
• Echo – Echoes happen reflected sound reaches a listener’s ear with a delay after the initial creation of sound. Echo is one of the most common acoustic problems.
• Flanking Noise – Is the sound transmission between spaces indirectly, going over or around, rather than directly through the main separating element
• PPM - Parts per million and it also can be expressed as milligrams per liter (mg/L)
• NRC (Noise Reduction Coefficient) Rating – NRC rating roughly translates to the amount of sound absorbed by an item. See Acoustic Rating for more information.
• Noise and Vibration Minimising the effects of flanking transmission, air-borne noise and structure borne noise. See Noise and Vibration for more information.
• Reverberation - Reverberation or reverb, is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing many reflections to build up and then decay or deterioration of the sound as it is absorbed by the surfaces of objects in the space.
• Sound Insulation - Sound Insulation Eliminates noisy disturbances from above, below and adjacent rooms. See Sound Insulation for more information.
• STC (Sound Transmission Class) Rating – STC Rating is a numerical value representing how well a structure is at reducing airborne sound transmission. See Acoustic Rating for more information.
• VOC's Volatile organic compounds – Emitted as gases from a variety of chemicals. Some have short/long-term adverse health effects.