The products from United Plastic Corporation are lightweight, environmentally responsible and easy to install.
Living in a high-density apartment community offers many benefits and conveniences. For those with a busy lifestyle, among the greatest conveniences are the lack of yard work and a maintenance staff that repairs appliances and fixes other problems free of charge that homeowners would otherwise have to pay for. In addition, apartment dwellers enjoy the year-round use of luxurious community amenities such as swimming pools, outdoor fire pits, dog parks and movie theaters, and most communities these days are in excellent urban locations, within walking distance of parks, stores and your neighbors.
Those who rent are also free to move whenever the lease ends, without worrying about selling a home. However, one of the challenges of apartment living is dealing with the sounds from outside one’s apartment that can travel into the living space. For developers, sound attenuation is an extremely important aspect that must be properly addressed when building a multi-unit building.
Sound attenuation is the combined effect of the scattering (or reflection) of sound and the absorption of sound energy. Attenuation results in a weakening of the sound, such as what occurs when sound travels through a medium like a wall or floor in a building. “Human sound,” such as TV noises, talking and basic appliances, is filtered out when the Sound Transmission Class, or STC, of a wall or floor is around 50. STC is the rating that a wall or floor receives based on how well it filters out sound; the higher the STC, the more effective that wall or floor is at reducing noise.
Typically, builders install insulation in a wall that filters out higher frequency noises, and often a type of blocker material is used that can increase the STC of that wall.
There are many products that can help increase STC ratings. Recently, we learned about several innovative products developed by United Plastics Corporation that can assist in this effort and are environmentally responsible. dB-4looring, dB-3 for walls and dB-2 for retrofitting are just a few solutions United Plastics has developed to assist builders with sound control strategy. Builders can increase the STC of walls and floors by approximately five levels per layer of sound material used. If the product is used on both sides of a wall or floor, the STC rating can increase by 10! Most of the sound that disturbs people is generally in the spectrum 4,000 to 5,000 Hz (hertz). “Our product performs exceptionally well within those ranges and in the lower ranges of hertz from about 150-400, which are the bass sounds, the vibration sounds from objects such as a subwoofer, TV or stereo,” explains John Bishop of United Plastics.
What appeals to us most are the environmental qualities of United Plastics’ products. Most blocking materials are virgin products made from petroleum-based materials, which means they are affected by the changes in oil prices and comprised of a minimum of recycled materials. On the other hand, dB-3, dB-2 and dB-4looring products are made of 100% recycled materials, and because of the amount of polyester materials included, they are incredibly flexible. This flexibility allows the products toscatter low frequency sounds, rather than transferring the sound through.
Another benefit of United Plastics’ products is that they are only one-eighth inch thick. When using them, builders can use standard width jams and avoid special allowances or floor plan changes to account for increases in thickness of the wall as may be required with double layer drywall. Installation is as easy as drywall: the material is very lightweight, so drywall installers can perform the work and builders can avoid additional hiring. And if that isn’t enough, the product acts as an impermeable vapor barrier so water/moisture will not pass through.
As construction managers, we constantly seek materials to help our clients achieve their construction, environmental and budgetary goals. United Plastics Corporation has developed products that offer great promise in each of these areas. For more about the company responsible for these high-performing products, please see the accompanying sidebar.
United Plastics has developed products for walls, floors and retrofits. Shown here is the dB-4looring with a tile floor installation.
United Plastics Corporation was founded in 1946 as Carolina Plastics Co. and manufactured products for the automotive industry. Located in Mount Airy, N.C., United Plastics produces flexible, rigid and dual durometer profiles, PVC cellular foam profiles, flexible sheet and roll goods for the construction, automotive, furniture and many other industries.
United Plastics Corporation is dedicated to producing environmentally-friendly products. They utilize more than 80,000 lbs. of post-industrial scrap each day that would otherwise end up in landfills. Products contain recycled materials andmany of their consumer and commercial products qualify for LEED points.
Living in a high-density apartment community offers many benefits and conveniences. For those with a busy lifestyle, among the greatest conveniences are the lack of yard work and a maintenance staff that repairs appliances and fixes other problems free of charge that homeowners would otherwise have to pay for. In addition, apartment dwellers enjoy the year-round use of luxurious community amenities such as swimming pools, outdoor fire pits, dog parks and movie theaters, and most communities these days are in excellent urban locations, within walking distance of parks, stores and your neighbors.
Those who rent are also free to move whenever the lease ends, without worrying about selling a home. However, one of the challenges of apartment living is dealing with the sounds from outside one’s apartment that can travel into the living space. For developers, sound attenuation is an extremely important aspect that must be properly addressed when building a multi-unit building.
Sound attenuation is the combined effect of the scattering (or reflection) of sound and the absorption of sound energy. Attenuation results in a weakening of the sound, such as what occurs when sound travels through a medium like a wall or floor in a building. “Human sound,” such as TV noises, talking and basic appliances, is filtered out when the Sound Transmission Class, or STC, of a wall or floor is around 50. STC is the rating that a wall or floor receives based on how well it filters out sound; the higher the STC, the more effective that wall or floor is at reducing noise.
Typically, builders install insulation in a wall that filters out higher frequency noises, and often a type of blocker material is used that can increase the STC of that wall.
There are many products that can help increase STC ratings. Recently, we learned about several innovative products developed by United Plastics Corporation that can assist in this effort and are environmentally responsible. dB-4looring, dB-3 for walls and dB-2 for retrofitting are just a few solutions United Plastics has developed to assist builders with sound control strategy. Builders can increase the STC of walls and floors by approximately five levels per layer of sound material used. If the product is used on both sides of a wall or floor, the STC rating can increase by 10! Most of the sound that disturbs people is generally in the spectrum 4,000 to 5,000 Hz (hertz). “Our product performs exceptionally well within those ranges and in the lower ranges of hertz from about 150-400, which are the bass sounds, the vibration sounds from objects such as a subwoofer, TV or stereo,” explains John Bishop of United Plastics.
What appeals to us most are the environmental qualities of United Plastics’ products. Most blocking materials are virgin products made from petroleum-based materials, which means they are affected by the changes in oil prices and comprised of a minimum of recycled materials. On the other hand, dB-3, dB-2 and dB-4looring products are made of 100% recycled materials, and because of the amount of polyester materials included, they are incredibly flexible. This flexibility allows the products toscatter low frequency sounds, rather than transferring the sound through.
Another benefit of United Plastics’ products is that they are only one-eighth inch thick. When using them, builders can use standard width jams and avoid special allowances or floor plan changes to account for increases in thickness of the wall as may be required with double layer drywall. Installation is as easy as drywall: the material is very lightweight, so drywall installers can perform the work and builders can avoid additional hiring. And if that isn’t enough, the product acts as an impermeable vapor barrier so water/moisture will not pass through.
As construction managers, we constantly seek materials to help our clients achieve their construction, environmental and budgetary goals. United Plastics Corporation has developed products that offer great promise in each of these areas. For more about the company responsible for these high-performing products, please see the accompanying sidebar.
United Plastics has developed products for walls, floors and retrofits. Shown here is the dB-4looring with a tile floor installation.
United Plastics Corporation was founded in 1946 as Carolina Plastics Co. and manufactured products for the automotive industry. Located in Mount Airy, N.C., United Plastics produces flexible, rigid and dual durometer profiles, PVC cellular foam profiles, flexible sheet and roll goods for the construction, automotive, furniture and many other industries.
United Plastics Corporation is dedicated to producing environmentally-friendly products. They utilize more than 80,000 lbs. of post-industrial scrap each day that would otherwise end up in landfills. Products contain recycled materials andmany of their consumer and commercial products qualify for LEED points.
Building Pride (Winter 2012): Using Recycled Materials To Mitigate Sound
511 Hay Street - P.O. Box 807 - Mount Airy, NC 27030 (336) 786-2127
www.United Plastics.com
www.United Plastics.com
