Recently, Acoustical Solutions was involved in a project to reduce sound transmission by a wall between a mechanical room containing large chillers for an ice cream factory and some new office/conference rooms on the other side of the wall. The mechanical room side was 22’ high and the office area was a standard 9’ height. The wall in between was 8” block up to 14’ and then a sheetrock wall up to the deck at 22’. Anyone in the office area could clearly hear and feel the vibration and noise from the chillers.

The customer / engineering firm had the slab cut around the mechanical room to help reduce the vibration into the office area; Acoustical Solutions installed an ABSC-25 2lb. blanket 12” off the existing wall on the mechanical room side. The idea was to introduce another wall in between that was relatively easy to install and effectively blocked the noise from the chillers. We had used this product on many other chiller jobs to install an enclosure around 1 or 2 chillers to reduce noise in office areas, dormitory buildings and historic buildings at Colonial Williamsburg.

The blanket is Class A Fire Rated and this particular model weighs 2.5 pounds/ sq ft and has a STC-33. We also used our firestop acoustical caulk to seal between the top of our wall and the deck. The job difficulty was compounded by the close conditions between the chiller equipment and the wall, the height of the wall, and the numerous penetrations from electrical conduit, roof trusses, etc.

The result is a much quieter environment for the office and a quieter mechanical room for operators.

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