Bathroom designer and manufacturer, Geberit, is calling for the industry to urgently change its mindset to acoustics in building design, as it publishes a new and updated White Paper to encourage the industry to take a customer-first approach and make better-informed decisions over building noise.
The Report, which accuses current UK regulations around the control of sound in buildings as being too vague and insufficient, is urging the specification chain to take more responsibility for product choice across all building services.
The unique publication (A Sound Solution) comes on the back of updated research by Geberit in March 2021 which found that more than half of UK respondents[1] are still affected by unwanted noise in their home. The YouGov survey of more than 2,000 adults across the UK also highlighted that more than a third (34%) are more affected by noises inside the home, such as electrical appliances, bathroom noise or central heating systems, than traffic from outside.
The bathroom continues to remain a main culprit of this internal noise, with one in four respondents (26%) regularly disturbed by bathroom sounds at night or when trying to relax, and one in five (19%) regularly disturbed by flushing toilets, running taps or pipe and drains.
Now, the manufacturer is calling for the specification and installation chain to make better-informed decisions in the absence of specific guidance or strict regulatory requirements around the impact of noise from public health services such as waste water. The paper highlights the need for the supply chain to break out of the silo approach by asking the right questions over product specification to provide better outcomes for clients, developers and end-users and adopting a whole-building approach to reducing building noise.
Sophie Weston, Channel Marketing Manager for Specification and Developers at Geberit said:
“Designers and specifiers are aware that buildings not only need to be designed to be functional and aesthetically pleasing, but acoustically satisfying as well; whether this is to support wellbeing in the home, encourage productivity in the workplace or to enhance customer satisfaction in a hotel. However, one of the biggest challenges until now has been that internal acoustics in building design is mainly concerned with heating, ventilation and air conditioning, with little or no consideration given to drainage.
“There is very little clarification within the relevant UK regulations on what products should be used to achieve specific sound pressures, particularly when it comes to waste water and bathroom noise. Building designers in the UK must not use this as an excuse for poor acoustics performance. Instead, they must use this lack of guidance as a catalyst to seek clarity and make better information decisions over building noise. We are urging the industry to take the lead. This means taking a whole-building approach - to extend the scope of noise simply beyond HVAC and consider the choices required to deliver a full system approach to reducing building noise. Taking a customer-first approach and challenging inertia and attitudes is critical.”
To download a copy of Geberit’s new White Paper visit www.geberit.co.uk/acoustics
[1] YouGov poll, commissioned by Geberit, March 2021
