For projects in New York
HVAC, plant and machine noise control in New York
Noise with a source. Almost every honest fix is at the machine, the duct or the plant room, and almost nothing useful happens by lining the far wall of the occupied space. Packaged rooftop units and ducted forced air are standard, so noise arrives through the duct rather than through the wall. Lining the first three metres of duct and treating the return path is usually the whole job.
- At source
- Enclosure, barrier or anti vibration mounts at the machine.
- In the path
- Duct lining, attenuators and lagging on the first run out of the plant.
- At the receiver
- Only after the first two, and only for what is left.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / The material
What this material is and where it earns its place in New York
Noise with a source. Almost every honest fix is at the machine, the duct or the plant room, and almost nothing useful happens by lining the far wall of the occupied space.
Packaged rooftop units and ducted forced air are standard, so noise arrives through the duct rather than through the wall. Lining the first three metres of duct and treating the return path is usually the whole job.
Work reaching us from New York is mostly pre-war apartments, brownstones, offices, studios, restaurants, clinics, schools.
- Boards decide the build-up Co-op and condo rules on floor coverings and separating construction usually set the requirement before any acoustic target does. Get the rule first, then design to it.
- Pre-war buildings, timber floors Older stock passes footfall straight down through the joists. A resilient layer under the finish does more than anything applied to the ceiling below.
- Depth is expensive here Floor area costs enough that a wall growing a hundred millimetres into the room is a real number. Thin and effective beats thick and theoretical.
- At source Enclosure, barrier or anti vibration mounts at the machine.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for HVAC and plant noise control are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in New York.
02 / The build-up
The stack, in the order it is installed
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Layer 1
Wood wool acoustic panels
Wood fibre bound into a rigid board with an open texture. In New York, packaged rooftop units and ducted forced air are standard, so noise arrives through the duct rather than through the wall. Lining the first three metres of duct and treating the return path is usually the whole job.
With a porous backing. Board over mineral backing where the room needs more than the board alone gives.
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Layer 2
Acoustic foam and BassBloc
Open cell foam shapes for high frequency control, and BassBloc, a high density absorber built for the low mid range where ordinary foam does nothing. In New York, churches, school gyms and multipurpose halls double as performance spaces, which means a room designed for neither speech nor music has to carry both.
First reflection points. Mirror trick placement on side walls and ceiling, which is a handful of panels rather than a lined room.
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Layer 3
Ceiling baffles and clouds
PET felt suspended from the soffit, vertically as baffles or horizontally as clouds. In New York, public school buildings run long corridors with hard floors and lay-in tile ceilings that were chosen for cost, not for speech. Classroom reverberation and corridor spill are the two complaints, and both respond to ceiling area rather than wall panels.
Vertical baffles. Hung on edge in rows. Both faces absorb, so coverage figures based on plan area understate them.
We would rather argue about the build-up at design stage than on site. See how we support architects.
03 / Local conditions
What decides the build-up in New York
- Boards decide the build-up
Co-op and condo rules on floor coverings and separating construction usually set the requirement before any acoustic target does. Get the rule first, then design to it.
- Pre-war buildings, timber floors
Older stock passes footfall straight down through the joists. A resilient layer under the finish does more than anything applied to the ceiling below.
- Depth is expensive here
Floor area costs enough that a wall growing a hundred millimetres into the room is a real number. Thin and effective beats thick and theoretical.
- Subway and street
Ground level and underground rail put low frequency into the structure. Panels on a wall will not touch it and we will say so.
- Plant and HVAC
Packaged rooftop units and ducted forced air are standard, so noise arrives through the duct rather than through the wall. Lining the first three metres of duct and treating the return path is usually the whole job.
04 / Room by room
Space by space, for New York briefs
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At source
Enclosure, barrier or anti vibration mounts at the machine. Co-op and condo rules on floor coverings and separating construction usually set the requirement before any acoustic target does. Get the rule first, then design to it.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, 2100 kg per cubic metre
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 20 mm
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 100 kg per cubic metre
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In the path
Duct lining, attenuators and lagging on the first run out of the plant. Older stock passes footfall straight down through the joists. A resilient layer under the finish does more than anything applied to the ceiling below.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 30, 5.25 kg per sq m
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 400 kg per cubic metre
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 100 to 500 Hz
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At the receiver
Only after the first two, and only for what is left. Floor area costs enough that a wall growing a hundred millimetres into the room is a real number. Thin and effective beats thick and theoretical.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 34, 8.4 kg per sq m
- Wood wool acoustic panels, 0.30
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 0.85
If the visual is fixed and the room still has to perform, that is a solvable problem and a conversation worth having early. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Durability
Why the climate in New York changes the material, not the target
New York is mild summers and cold, wet winters, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
Cold external walls and long heating seasons make condensation behind a lining the thing to design out. PET felt is unaffected by damp air.
The failure we design against here is condensation and cold bridging behind new linings.
If a consultant has set the target, we will quote against their figures rather than ours, and stay out of the scope they own. More on working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Before you buy
The six errors that cost the most
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Absorption on the office wall for a plant room problem
Plant noise treated as a room problem is the most reliable way to spend a budget and change nothing anyone can hear.
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Lagging a duct that is carrying the noise as breakout from the fan
Plant noise treated as a room problem is the most reliable way to spend a budget and change nothing anyone can hear.
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Ignoring structure borne vibration through the mounts
It sounds like a small detail until the room is finished and the complaint arrives.
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Treating it as a generic New York job
Co-op and condo rules on floor coverings and separating construction usually set the requirement before any acoustic target does. Get the rule first, then design to it.
05 / Getting it there
Supply into New York, start to site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Port of New York and New Jersey, then a short road run |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea into New York |
| Support | Drawings, build-ups, BOQ and material that arrives complete |
Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. The sea leg from India is long, so plan the full door to door window into the programme. We give real dates, not optimistic ones.
Sea freight into the Port of New York and New Jersey, then a short road run to site. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from New York projects
What makes HVAC, plant and machine noise control different in New York?
Packaged rooftop units and ducted forced air are standard, so noise arrives through the duct rather than through the wall. Lining the first three metres of duct and treating the return path is usually the whole job. Co-op and condo rules on floor coverings and separating construction usually set the requirement before any acoustic target does. Get the rule first, then design to it.
Where should the budget go first on a New York project?
At source. Enclosure, barrier or anti vibration mounts at the machine. In the path. Duct lining, attenuators and lagging on the first run out of the plant.
Do you have an office or installation team in New York?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into New York. We give you drawings, build-ups, a BOQ and material that arrives complete, and we will tell you plainly when a job needs a local contractor we cannot be.
How does material get to a New York site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Port of New York and New Jersey, then a short road run, dispatch: 4 to 7 working days. Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. The sea leg from India is long, so plan the full door to door window into the programme. We give real dates, not optimistic ones.
What goes wrong most often on this kind of project?
Absorption on the office wall for a plant room problem. Lagging a duct that is carrying the noise as breakout from the fan.
What do you need from us to quote?
A plan, a section through the critical partition or ceiling, and what the room is for. From that we can give a build-up and a BOQ rather than a price per square foot.
Next step
Send the drawings, get a straight answer
Send what you have. We will give you a layer by layer build-up, a bill of quantities and a date material lands, and we will flag anything in the brief that will not achieve what you want.