Case Study: Elementary School Gymnasium Noise Control

Project Details:

eNoise Control was contacted by an Elementary School facilities manager in regards to a noisy, echo filled gymnasium.  They had received several complaints that the children could not utilize the space because it was too loud, the teachers had trouble communicating due to the noise, and speaking to the kids was very difficult.  The reverberation echo was extremely loud in this multi-purpose room.

 

Solutions:

eNoise came on-site to perform an acoustical analysis and acoustic consulting for this client.  We determined the hard rubber floor, concrete block walls, and metal deck roof were allowing sound to easily reflect back into the space.  These hard acoustical surfaces amplified the noise and created the loud, echoing gym space.

We performed a reverberation calculation to determine the gym had a reverb time of 5.4 seconds.  The client’s acoustic goal was to reduce the echo down to 2.0 seconds.  Our acoustic analysis software program allowed us to add sound absorption into the space digitally to determine the amount of square feet of sound paneling and ceiling baffles to add to the space.

 

We helped the client determine thickness and placement of the sound absorption paneling in the space.  The end result was a 1.8 second reverberation time and students and teachers were pleased with the solution to lower the noise.

Please call eNoise Control to discuss your gymnasium application.