Acoustic plumbing aims to combat the issue of internal noise pollution and Valsir have developed two products to tackle it head on.

Noise pollution in buildings is one of the construction industry’s most widely debated topics.

Prior to construction, consultants analyse the causes of external noise such as air and road traffic; however, they often underestimate and overlook the causes of internal noise caused by service installations such as lifts, heating, air-conditioning and waste systems.

As we know though, these issues too often come to the fore once a building has been constructed. Internal noises are becoming one of the most highly litigated issues, especially for apartments pre-sold off a plan. Unfortunately the innocent consumer/buyer has no knowledge of any pending problem.

When a waste system is in use, noises are generated inside the pipelines; causing them to vibrate from the fall of the liquid being discharged. Most of the generated noise spreads inside the pipe (the so called air-borne noise) but the vibrations are transmitted from the walls of the pipe to the surrounding area and to the bracketing systems and consequently to the building structure (the so called structure-borne noise).

To minimise noise levels in waste and drainage systems, not only should the system be properly designed and the waste circuit mounted correctly, but it is also important to choose a system with an elevated soundproofing performance.

A relatively new supplier to the Australian market with acoustic piping systems is Valsir and any regular visitor to ISH in Frankfurt would be impressed by the innovation on show at their exhibition stand.

Valsir’s Silere and Triplus piping systems challenge the traditional approach of acoustic lagging and allow waste systems to be installed that guarantee excellent soundproofing performance.

These systems meet the National Construction Code (NCC) 2013 (Building Code of Australia – BCA) acoustic requirements (Rw + Ctr 40) for habitable rooms – when tested without acoustic lagging and using an industry standard ceiling structure (13mm plasterboard and 75mm R1.5 insulation batt).

Valsir’s waste systems offer a number of benefits:

• no need to lag pipes and fittings
• reduced labour and material costs including insulation
• easy inspection and maintenance with the bare pipes and fittings.

Valsir’s Silere and Triplus pipe systems have recently been tested by the CSIRO (Report MA151/R1 June 2013) and appraised by Day Design – Consulting Acoustical Engineers (Report 5116-1.2L July 2013).

Plumbing acoustic performance is a subject often raised by Plumbing Connection readers and in response to that, we plan to take a broader look at this subject area next issue and gain the input of various industry experts.

http://www.valsir.it/it

http://www.valsir.com.au