The Dilemma of Balancing Design for Impact Sound with Environmental Performance in Wood Ceiling Systems—A Building Physics Perspective

Theresa Müller,Stefan Albrecht,Philip Leistner,David Borschewski,Moritz Späh

doi:10.3390/su13168715

Theresa Müller, Stefan Albrecht + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168715

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Abstract

Due to the high consumption of resources and energy in the construction sector, the development of resource-efficient and sustainable construction solutions is gaining increasing attention. The awareness of sustainability and resource conservation results in the interest of using natural and renewable materials in contemporary architecture. Timber construction methods offer both constructive and ecological potential for sustainable solutions. From a building physics perspective, the acoustic performance of lightweight buildings, such as those made of timber, presents a challenge. Even if standard requirements are met, the increased low-frequency sound transmission typical for light-weight construction can cause discomfort and is already the subject of questions in building physics, which are currently increasingly extending to timber construction. Within the framework of a holistic approach, this paper compares the problem of acoustic properties, design optimizations and the ecological properties of timber-frame and solid timber construction components. The comparison with heavy materials, such as concrete, shows the relation of acoustic optimization with the change of the environmental profile. In order to establish the interaction between acoustic quality of wooden ceiling constructions and their ecological characteristics, this article aims to demonstrate the potential of materials used in the building sector under ecological aspects considering a life cycle analysis.

Highlights

Published: 4 August 2021With its high consumption of resources and energy, the construction sector is one of the major sources of environmental pollution
The use of natural and renewable materials, such as wood, has been increasing in the recent decade. This raw material has been used as a building material in traditional construction for centuries and its material properties as well as its building physics characteristics provide it with good prerequisites as a material for innovative and sustainable construction solutions [3]
It becomes evident that the low frequencies are more problematic in the timber construction than in the reinforced concrete construction and this affects the acoustic quality of ceilings which underlines the challenge and relevance of acoustics in timber construction

Summary

Introduction

With its high consumption of resources and energy, the construction sector is one of the major sources of environmental pollution. The use of natural and renewable materials, such as wood, has been increasing in the recent decade. This raw material has been used as a building material in traditional construction for centuries and its material properties as well as its building physics characteristics provide it with good prerequisites as a material for innovative and sustainable construction solutions [3]

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