Noise control 

is an active or passive means of reducing sound emissions, often incentivised by personal

comfort, environmental considerations or legal compliance. Practical and efficient noise
control is wholly reliant on an accurate diagnosis of what is causing the noise, which first
involves finding the source of noise. Once the source of noise has been found, the focus is
reducing the noise at source by engineering means .

Types of noise control

There are four basic principles of noise control:

 Sound insulation: prevent the transmission of noise by the introduction of a mass

barrier. Common materials have high-density properties such as brick, concrete, metal
etc.

 Sound absorption: a porous material which acts as a ‘noise sponge’ by converting the
sound energy into heat within the material. Common sound absorption materials include
open cell foams and fiberglass

 Vibration damping: applicable for large vibrating surfaces. The damping mechanism
works by extracting the vibration energy from the thin sheet and dissipating it as heat. A
common material is sound deadened steel.

 Vibration isolation: prevents transmission of vibration energy from a source to a

receiver by introducing a flexible element or a physical break. Common vibration isolators
are springs, rubber mounts, cork etc.

Materials used in architectural acoustics

Acoustical wall and ceiling panels can be constructed of many different materials and finishes.
The ideal acoustical panels are those without a face or finish material that interferes with the
acoustical infill or substrate. Fabric covered panels are one way to maximize the acoustical
absorption. The finish material is used to cover over the acoustical substrate. Mineral fiber
board, or Micore, is a commonly used acoustical substrate. Finish materials often consist of
fabric, wood or metal. Fabric can be wrapped around substrates to create what is referred to
as a "pre-fabricated panel" if laid onto a wall, and require no modifications. Such fabrics are
generally acoustically 'transparent, meaning that they do not imped a sound wave [1].
Prefabricated panels are limited to the size of the subas "on-site acoustical wall panels" This
is constructed by "framing" the perimeter track into shape, infilling the acoustical substrate
and then stretching and tucking the fabric into the perimeter frame system. On-site wall
panels can be constructed to work around door frames, baseboard, or any other intrusion.
Large panels (generally greater than 50 feet) can be created on walls and ceilings with this
method.