Laminated versus acoustic glass
May 27, 2005 6:36 AM Subscribe
Laminated versus acoustic glass. Which is best glass for noise reduction: Acoustic or laminated glass? [mi]
The manufacturers should be able to provide some kind of standardized noise reduction numbers, but be warned that sound is a tricky bastard. For one thing, noise reduction varies across frequencies, so your mileage will vary depending on what types of noise you're trying to minimize.
The inter-layer resin in acoustic glass (as far as I have witnessed so far; this may not apply to the specific version your acquaintance is considering) is flexible; when sound waves strike one layer of the glass, the resin absorbs some of the sound energy (turning it to heat) before transmitting the rest to the other pane of glass (and thus to the room beyond). Most "normal" laminated glasses use a thinner, less flexible resin, so they absorb less energy and thus transmit more of the sound.
posted by aramaic at 8:20 AM on May 27, 2005
The inter-layer resin in acoustic glass (as far as I have witnessed so far; this may not apply to the specific version your acquaintance is considering) is flexible; when sound waves strike one layer of the glass, the resin absorbs some of the sound energy (turning it to heat) before transmitting the rest to the other pane of glass (and thus to the room beyond). Most "normal" laminated glasses use a thinner, less flexible resin, so they absorb less energy and thus transmit more of the sound.
posted by aramaic at 8:20 AM on May 27, 2005
Note: the additional expense of acoustic glass may be rendered wholly pointless if the rest of the house isn't adequately constructed. Acoustic glass will do nothing to stop noise that's being transmitted directly to the structure or fabric of the building.
posted by aramaic at 8:23 AM on May 27, 2005
posted by aramaic at 8:23 AM on May 27, 2005
What you want is a number like the Sound Transmission Class (STC) this is one of the many ways to try to quantify how much "sound insulation" something can provide. And aramaic is right - sound is like water, in that it'll always take the path of least
resistance. So, the acoustic glass won't be effective unless the rest of the house is built with the same amount of care.
posted by slipperywhenwet at 10:46 AM on May 27, 2005
resistance. So, the acoustic glass won't be effective unless the rest of the house is built with the same amount of care.
posted by slipperywhenwet at 10:46 AM on May 27, 2005
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Acoustic seems to act as a sort of sandwich, like laminated glass. The difference seems to be that acoustic glass uses a special sound-dampening acoustic resin between the two layers of glass.
Is acoustic glass significantly better than ordinary laminated glass, and are there any meaningful qualitative comparisons available?
posted by plep at 6:37 AM on May 27, 2005