Innovations in Acoustical Ceilings for Today’s Flexible Interiors
Acoustic Solutions in Offices
Traditional workplaces can be generally described as a combination of open plan and closed plan design. Open plan designs include cubicles and open spaces for professional, clerical and administrative offices. Closed plan designs, which provide for maximum confidential privacy, include management offices, human resources office, legal offices, conference rooms, doctor's offices and medical treatment rooms.
To achieve total acoustic performance, the ideal combination of sound blocking and sound absorption, an acoustical ceiling product should perform at a high level of both CAC and NRC. Ceiling panels with high CAC and NRC ratings help block and absorb unwanted sound in open office spaces, and even more importantly in closed offices where privacy is key.
More recent architectural design trends lead away from traditional design, and we consider the open office as being comprised of both focus areas and collaboration areas instead. In this new design approach we consider function to drive form, and we'll discuss three specific work areas: focus areas, collaboration areas and privacy areas.
Image courtesy of Armstrong® Commercial Ceilings
Image courtesy of Armstrong® Commercial Ceilings
Image courtesy of Armstrong® Commercial Ceilings
1. Focus Areas—In open plan offices the focus areas are intended for knowledge workers who need to concentrate on individual work. Within these open plan spaces the noise will be limited administratively using both technical and behavioral directives since noise and low distractions are key. Between spaces, it’s important to minimize noise intrusions in all directions, and both architectural and technology enhancements, and behavioral directives will be necessary. In these spaces, a combination of high to mid AC and NRC, and CAC rated ceilings, moderate-to-high furniture panels, and electronic sound masking are design elements to consider.
2. Collaboration Areas—In open plan offices, the collaboration areas are intended for project teams that require active participation. Within a team, interactions and teaming activities require open communications, and speech intelligibility is key. Between teams, there is a need for moderate acoustic separation between different groups, and significant acoustic separation from focus areas and privacy areas. Diminishing noise is key to minimize distractions. In these spaces ceiling clouds with a combination of mid NRC and mid-high CAC are recommended.
3. Privacy Areas—Office privacy areas are important to knowledge workers, management, legal, financial, human resources, etc., so that they can concentrate on individual work needs and have confidential discussions. These are most likely closed plan spaces, and within a space both noise, and especially privacy, are key. Between spaces, it’s important to minimize sound transfer in all directions. Design factors include robust choices of architectural elements including high CAC and moderate NRC ceilings, high STC walls, and consideration of electronic sound masking.
Total Acoustic Quality in a Healthcare Environment
Photo courtesy of Armstrong® Commercial Ceilings
A healthcare setting, where information of a personal nature is often transmitted through speech between patient and doctor, doctors and nurses, etc., amplifies the need for speech privacy.
Privacy, measured by the Privacy Index, is important in a healthcare setting. When information of a sensitive nature is verbalized, a patient within a closed room should feel certain that the information will not transmit beyond that space. New federal rules give guidelines on how to create speech privacy to ensure that patient's health privacy is preserved.
HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information. The point is that each person is entitled to the privacy of his or her medical history, and this law is enforced by the Office for Civil Rights, within the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.
According to the National Institutes of Health4, department managers can use cost-effective and simple strategies to comply with HIPAA oral privacy requirements:
► Consider using cubicles or screens to block sound.
► Install masking sound systems, sound-absorbent curtains.
► Install ceiling tile with high noise-reduction rating (NRC).
The addition of a ceiling with high sound blocking performance (CAC) will further assist in keeping patient information confidential.
Building design and specification both have significant impacts on speech privacy and construction costs, and the project architect can impact the methods and materials.
Besides offices and healthcare environments, there is a third category of interior spaces that needs special acoustic consideration: classrooms. That will be our next area of exploration.
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