Acoustical Ceilings are an inexpensive way to lower the height of a room and also soften noise in the room. However, reduction of noise isn’t the only reason to use an acoustic ceiling in an office environment. It can also be used to hide computer wires, pipes or other things you would rather not see.
If your reading this in an office you may be under an acoustic ceiling right now and not even have know it. Usually you can tell one of these ceilings by the square tiles and popcorn like texture. But, no longer are they only available in that texture they now come in plenty of styles and colors for the average person to feel comfortable bringing them into their home or business.
The Underwriters Laboratories created six different ratings for sound absorption and you should take them into consideration when choosing your acoustical ceiling tile. The rating can be found on the box label with the symbol UL next to it.
First is the “Noise Reduction Coefficient” (NRC) which is a rating of the sound absorption of the tile in an enclosed space. This would be important for an office or the customer contact area of a store such as a checkout line.
The measure of speech noise reflected around office fixtures and wall partitions, such as a cubicle is called the Articulation Class (AC) and should be taken into consideration in a cubicle area.
Sabin is a sound absorption measurement for within a design space and is mainly important in more open areas.
Ceiling Attenuation Class (CAC) gives us the measure of airborne sound absorbed through the ceiling tile and is rating needed for interior designers of doctor offices.
PI or Privacy Index is used to rate the amount of privacy provided by the ceiling tile. It is determined by if PI is greater than 95% you can feel comfortable speaking confidently between 80% and 95% you would have basic privacy where someone would have to be listening to understand and less than 80% is considered poor in terms of privacy.
The Sound Transmission Class (STC) gives us the rating of the barrier to sound created by a wall, between floors or other partition. A STC rating of 55 or above is considered a great barrier of sound.
Inside your home or office they can be used for quick fix on that room you don’t feel the best about or to quite down a child’s play area. There are a few “Do it yourself” websites out there but when it comes to anything requiring this type of work you should hire a commercial contractor.