We are dedicated to improving the acoustic health of buildings through pioneering solutions and exciting new research.
How Knauf Insulation improves acoustic health
Aircraft landing, construction work, impatient traffic jams or simply noisy neighbors, loud colleagues or a barking pet-exposure to excessive levels of noise can be painful.
It also impacts health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says uncontrolled noise can disturb sleep, cause cardiovascular and psychophysiological eects, reduce performance, provoke ‘annoyance responses’ and changes in social behaviour.
“In Europe one in five people are regularly exposed to sound levels at night that could significantly damage health,” says WHO.
Research commissioned by the European Environmental Agency found that noise pollution causes 10,000 cases of premature death in Europe and more than 43,000 hospital admissions every year.
The challenge is that we spend 90% of our time in buildings and noise will always find a way in. And this is bad news for the human ear because it is particularly sensitive. For example, a sound that increases by 10 decibels (dB) would be perceived as twice as loud as the original sound – just compare a normal conversation, which is about 60 dB, to being next to a vacuum cleaner at 70 dB.
Now imagine the impact of a 10 dB noise increase on those living in multi-home buildings, working in partitioned office spaces, or children in schools…
The solution is reliable acoustic insulation. Acoustic insulation is relevant not only in partitions but also in pitched roofs to protect homes from noise or rain impact noise and in ceilings and walls to absorb noise and avoid reverberation effect. There are Mineral Wool or Heraklith Solutions for all these applications.