The significance of good acoustics is often overlooked. A fire door installed in a building may not be required to perform as tested in a laboratory if the building is not affected by fire, which in the majority of cases, thankfully does not happen.
For acoustic doors however, the confirmation of test performance as carried out in a test facility, occurs in real life on a very regular basis.
- In hospitals, hospices or other places of respite, noise can be harmful. Every support from good acoustics is of considerable benefit.
- In schools or other places of education, external un-wanted ambient noise is an interference to learning. Well-performing acoustic products are critical in this environment.
- Hotels and other hospitality facilities require reduction of sound to ensure privacy and comfort in the surroundings.
For this reason, since 2010, the specialist German producer of certified technical door solutions with class-leading fire, smoke, acoustic, thermal and security performance, Moralt AG has put its focus and resource into creating door products that fulfil these needs. Moralt acoustic door cores do not just tick boxes to confirm to specification, but instead push the boundaries. The better the acoustic performance, the greater the chance that the scenarios outlined above, are met.
Most UK door blanks cover the acoustic requirement up to dB35, as do Moralt with their 2 FireSmoke cores, but it is the dB40-plus acoustic territory, through the Moralt FireSound range, that stands out; dB40 FireSound 44mm (FD30), dB42 FireSound 54mm (FD60), and finally dB43 with FireSound 59mm that is up to FD90 fire rated. Acoustics are also an integral part of the Moralt FD90 / FD120 Xtreme range, with dB36 and dB44 operational performances respectively. Yet higher acoustic ratings - dB48 up to dB66 - are achieved with a combination of these high-quality cores as so-called inter-connecting doors as often found in hotel bedrooms and in between conference rooms.
All of these products are timber-based, sustainable, UK stocked and Third Party accredited.
“We‘re tremendously proud of our on-going testing programme which is pretty unique in the industry“ said Steven Dennard responsible for International Sales at Moralt AG. “Indeed, just last month we conducted an intensive two week programme of successful acoustic testing at the IFT Institute in Arnsberg, Germany. As well as a number of exciting new products we have in development, this testing included the use of concealed door closers, which have increased in popularity because they are aesthetically more pleasing than the face-fixed options as well as concealed hinges that again, offer a nicer design finish to a door .“
Most noise however will come from outside a building. So the Moralt external door range – Moralt FERRO – has also covered acoustic performance more than any other door core producer. An operational dB47 is achieved with the FERRO Akustik door core, and even to Passivhaus standard, the Moralt FERRO Passiv FireSafe Akustik which is also FD30 fire rated, attains an excellent dB42 acoustic performance.
