Acoustic Design

Guide
NR and NC Curves
CIBSE Noise Ratings
Environmental Noise Control
Maximum Air Velocities in Ducts
Privacy in Cellular Offices

14th February 2012

Contents
Noise Curves
NR Curves and Table 1
NC Curves and Table 2

CIBSE Noise Ratings 3

Environmental Noise Control 4

Maximum Air Velocities in Ducts 5

Privacy in Cellular Offices

A Background to Privacy 6
Medium privacy in cellular offices 7
High privacy in cellular offices 9

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i CAICE Acoustic Design Guide
NR Curves and Table

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CAICE Acoustic Design Guide 1
NC Curves and Table

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2 CAICE Acoustic Design Guide
CIBSE Noise Ratings

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CAICE Acoustic Design Guide 3
Environmental Noise Control

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4 CAICE Acoustic Design Guide
Maximum Air Velocities in Ducts

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CAICE Acoustic Design Guide 5
Privacy in Cellular Offices
A Background to Privacy
What is privacy? Speech levels

The isolation of normal or raised speech produced in one room The index values shown in the table assume normal speech
from possible listeners in another room. noise levels. Add 6dB if the criteria are to be achieved based on
raised speech.

What main factors determine privacy?

Selecting a suitable building structure
1. The voice level of the person speaking within the source
room. The table below shows a range of average room-to-room noise
reductions for different types of building structure.
2. The background noise level within the receiving room.

Building Structure Between Rooms Average Noise

3. The noise reduction of the building structure between the
Reduction
rooms.
Budget demountable partitioning and suspended Below 35 dB
ceiling

Quality demountable partitioning and suspended 35 to 40 dB

Selecting an appropriate privacy criterion or rating ceiling

The table below shows privacy criteria in terms of speech Full height standard studded plasterboard partition- 40 to 50 dB
intelligibility, with a corresponding privacy rating. The index ing
values shown are calculated by adding the required Noise
Rating (NR) level within the receiving room to the average dB Full height jumbo studded plasterboard partitioning 50 to 55 dB
noise reduction of the building structure between the two rooms.
Full height single leaf dense block wall 50 to 55 dB

Privacy Criteria Privacy Rating Index

Intelligible Low Below 75dB Eliminating noise flanking paths

Between intelligible and unintelligible Medium 75 to 80 dB Noise reduction performance of structures will be undermined,
unless noise flanking paths, such as those listed below, are
eliminated.
Unintelligible High 80 to 90 dB
Doors and door seals
Inaudible Very High Above 90 dB
Glazed sections within demountable partitioning

For example to achieve a high privacy rating when the receiving Demountable partition joint to the suspended ceiling
room background noise level is NR40, the building structure
must provide an average noise reduction of between 40 and Apertures in the suspended ceiling, such as grilles, etc
50dB.

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6 CAICE Acoustic Design Guide
Privacy in Cellular Offices
Medium privacy in cellular offices
Medium privacy is normally acceptable for cellular offices, and Before selecting one of these methods the following factors
two methods for achieving this are shown, based on the follow- should be considered:
ing:
Will the office layout change or is it fixed?
Demountable partitioning system
Is it a new or existing building?
Suspended ceiling system
How many cellular offices are there?
Void mounted fan coil units (omitted from drawings for
clarity) Which method would be easier to install?

Return air ceiling void Which would be most cost effective?

Background noise level of NR35 to 40

Method 1 - Cellular offices with maximum flexibility Return air ceiling void
and medium privacy

Ideal for new build if office layouts may change

Return air grilles
fitted with

Partitions can be moved without affecting privacy HG acoustic hoods

HG acoustic hoods protect all ceiling apertures High quality suspended

ceiling system
NR35 to 40 cellular office

Return air ceiling void remains clear

High quality demountable
partitioning system

Simple installation makes privacy easy to achieve

This method utilises HG acoustic hoods, which are detailed in The major benefit of this method is that the demountable parti-
the CAICE Acoustic Hood data sheet. In addition high quality tions can be moved to modify the size and position of the cel-
demountable partitioning and suspended ceiling systems are lular offices, without affecting privacy.
incorporated throughout the office.
To achieve medium privacy a 40dB (Rw) partition system and
Hoods should be fitted to the rear of all ceiling penetrations, a 40dB (Dncw) ceiling system should be used as a minimum.
such as return air grilles, diffusers or luminaires, to ensure that
the acoustic integrity of the ceiling system is maintained.

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CAICE Acoustic Design Guide 7
Privacy in Cellular Offices
Method 2 - Cellular offices with medium privacy and Return air ceiling void Acoustic void barrier
limited flexibility Return air crosstalk attenuator

Ideal for existing offices where layout is fixed

Return air grilles

Acoustic void barriers required above partitions

Existing partitions and ceiling may be retained Budget suspended NR35 to 40 cellular office
ceiling system

Crosstalk attenuators protect return air path

High quality demountable
partitioning system
Void barrier enables budget ceiling to be used

This method utilises acoustic void barriers, penetrated by return This is because the void barriers must be moved in conjunction
air crosstalk attenuators. Although high quality partitioning is still with the partitions.
required, a budget ceiling system can be used, as noise be-
tween adjacent rooms has to pass through the ceiling and the To achieve medium privacy a 40dB (Rw) partition system, a
void barrier. 32dB (Dncw) ceiling system, and a 35dB (Rw) void barrier
shoud be used.
This method is ideal where the office layout is fixed, or where
only a few cellular offices are located within a large office area. Typically the return air crosstalk attenuator should be 900mm
However it may not be suitable for new buildings with many cel- long, with an average insertion loss of 30dB between 500 and
lular offices, where the layouts are subject to change. 4000Hz.

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8 CAICE Acoustic Design Guide
Privacy in Cellular Offices
High Privacy in Cellular Offices
High privacy would only normally be required for cellular offices This method is therefore based on cellular offices with full height
if they were being used for sensitive or confidential discussions. studded plasterboard partitioning, which should achieve 50dB
(Rw).
For example a conference room, a board room, an interview
room, etc, may all need a higher degree of privacy, but it is diffi- However because the partitioning is fixed, there is limited flexibil-
cult to achieve this with demountable partitioning systems. ity to subsequently change the office layouts.

Cellular Offices with high privacy but limited flexibility Return air ceiling void
Return air crosstalk attenuator

Layout of cellular offices is fixed

Return air grilles

Plasterboard partition must be full height

Crosstalk attenuators protect return air path

Suspended NR35 to 40 cellular office
ceiling system
Partition enables budget ceiling to be used
Full height fixed studded
plasterboard partitioning

Ceiling acoustic performance is not critical, as the noise reduc- Details on rectangular and circular attenuators suitable for cross-
tion between rooms is provided by the full height partition. Typi- talk applications can be found in the CAICE Attenuator Bro-
cally the return air crosstalk attenuator should be 1200mm long, chure.
with an average insertion loss of 40dB between 500 and
4000Hz..

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CAICE Acoustic Design Guide 9
Telephone CAICE Acoustic Air Movement Ltd.
0118 918 6470 Riverside House
Facsimile 3 Winnersh Fields
0118 918 6480 Gazelle Close
Winnersh
enquiries@caice.co.uk Wokingham
www.caice.co.uk RG41 5QS