Impact Sound Insulation of thermally insulated Balconies

Abstract

With the increasing urban densification, balconies are gaining in popularity as they improve the living quality in homes. Thermal insulation between balconies and the building's façade is state of the art. In Germany the most popular balcony construction is a reinforced concrete balcony, separated from the building by a thermal insulation element (TIE), which is meant to reduce the thermal energy loss and thus ensure the sustainability of buildings. The impact sound transmission from balconies, however, is a problem that has not been addressed enough to date. The main goal of the project is to provide acoustic quantities, e.g., an impact sound reduction, for a TIE that can be used to compare the acoustical quality of products and to predict the impact sound pressure levels within the building using the standard EN ISO 12354-2. Experimental and numerical studies have been carried out on various ceiling-balcony mock-ups without and with TIEs e.g., by means of experimental modal analysis and finite element models. This paper will show the effect that various parameters have on the impact sound insulation. Additionally, the measurements on the test set-up will be compared to measurements on building sites.