Armacell Insulation for Schools and UniversitiesImproving acoustics in a school facility is crucial for architects and interior designers who work to improve school environments. Many acoustical issues can arise in classrooms like background noise, reverberation time, and signal-to-noise ratio. About 60% of school activities in the classroom utilize spoken communication and these noisy problems can cause speech intelligibility. Currently, in the U.S., classrooms can typically have speech intelligibility ratings of 75% or less, which means every fourth word is not heard or understood. This is a large communication gap so we must diligently improve this rating to ensure students are benefiting from quieter classrooms by using acoustic solutions. Children, especially those with learning disabilities or those who speak English as a second language, are at risk for not being able to hear or learn effectively if classrooms, auditoriums, libraries and even hallways are not quiet.

Armacell’s ArmaComfort MTD tape is custom formulated elastomeric foam that is a highly effective sound decoupling material for walls. This fast and easy-to-install MTD tape is applied directly to the steel stud in place of resilient channel or isolation clips, and it dramatically reduces pass through noise, creating a quieter space. Sound proofing materials are rated according to their STC (Sound Transmission Class), a measure of how much sound they stop. The higher the STC rating, the more effective the measure is. Extra drywall typically only delivers 2 STC points per sheet, resilient channels gives 5-7 points and isolation clips, which are costly, only up to 11 points. ArmaComfort MTD delivers up to a 7-point improvement with far less installation labor. ArmaComfort MTD also prevents thermal bridging from occurring between the stud and the wallboard, reducing the amount of heat gain or loss from one space to the next. So, spaces aren’t just quieter they are also more comfortable. ArmaComfort MTD tape will help the knowledge transfer from teacher to student and ensure the message is heard.

Read more about classroom acoustics from an article written by CISCA:
http://www.cisca.org/files/public/Acoustics%20in%20Schools%20Summary%20Flyer.pdf