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rnHE EARLY Saturday morning

.1 roar of a lawnmower. The blaring stereo or passing police siren. Assorted squeaks and squeals from floor joists, appliances, piPes, and heating and air conditioning systems. Residential sound control is becoming increasingly important to homebuilders and homeowners. The popularity of home offices, home theaters/media rooms and planned urban developments makes sound control an important Part of home building and design. And, insulation manufacturers, primarily known for talking uP energy efficiency, have responded.

"Recommending sound insulation to cuslomers is now a more routine Practice," said Ed Blanchard, Davidson

Sound Control Tips For Builders

r Install furnaces, air conditioners and HVAC units as far awaY from bedrooms as possible.

o Caulk the top and bottom plates of walls to reduce noise leaks above and under walls.

o Use resilient channels to mount drywall in high-noise areas.

o Properly caulk outlets and switches to keep noise from leaking through, and don't place these openings back-to-back in a wall. Use a pre-formed fiberglass duct system or duct liners to reduce noise in metal ducts.

r In plumbing systems, use swing arms or S-curves that allow for pipe expansion /contraction.

o Isolate pipe vibrations with resilient mounts on vertical suPports and isolation pads supporting horizontal runs.

o Solid-core doors provide better sound insulation than hollowcore doors.

r Add soft weather gaskets to tops and sides of doors and a threshold closure under the door.

r Double-paned windows with airtight seals and spacing between panes further reduce noise.

r Furnishings like rugs, calPets and wall hangings help reduce unwanted sound echoes, esPeciallY in hallways. Carpets also reduce footstep impact noise.

- Johns Manville CorP.

NEW INSULATION products have been specially designed to reduce unwanted noise.

Insulation & Acoustics, Port Charlotte, Fl. "It's probably the most cost-effective way to control home sound and is something you should include in the building process."

Sound waves that travel through a wall into another room are transmitted not only through solid structures such as framing and doors, but also through the air space in the cavity of the wall. To fill that air space, manufacturers now offer a variety of specially designed products, including Johns Manville's ComfortTherm Sound Control Batts, CertainTeed's NoiseReducer Insulation, and Owens Corning's QuietZone Acoustic Batts. When sound waves pass through such fiberglass products, the vibrational energy of a sound wave is converted to heat by the small pockets of air cre- ated by the glass fibers, which absorb the sound energy and reduce sound transmission. tioning ducts in fiberglass insulation with a vapor retarder facing. When adding new ducts, consider a highefficiency fiberglass duct system, made from rigid fiber glass insulation boards formed into ducts. The acoustical insulation reduces the noise of the heating/cooling unit as air is transmitted through the duct system to the rooms of the home.

The acoustic batts can be installed not only inside interior walls, but also under floors and above ceilinss. Noise also can be controlled by using specially designed acoustic panels, fabrics and fabric retainers, caulk, wall framing, door systems, floor mats, speaker wells and diffusers.

Sound quality is of utmost importance in creating a highperformance home theater. In addition to acoustic accessories, special construction techniques, such as staggered studs or double-wall construction, can be employed.

Insulation Priorities

Where should builders and remodelers consider adding insulation?

. Exterior walls, including walls between living spaces and unheated garages or storage rooms, dormer walls and the portions of walls above ceilings of adjacent lower sections of split-level homes.

. Ceilings with cold spaces above.

a Kneewalls of attic spaces finished as living quarters.

r Cathedral ceilings of attic spaces finished as living quarters.

a Floors above vented crawl spaces.

a Floors over garages, porches or unheated basements.

Johns Manville recommends various sound control wall assemblies based on the sound isolation needs of the customer. The key to implementing an effective sound control system is choosing the right techniques based on practical considerations, such as expense, construction time and, most important, how much noise reduction is really needed.

"Basic construction practices can dramatically improve privacy between rooms and, when implemented with care, offer residents peace and quiet without requiring great amounts of time, money or loss of floor space," says Brandon Tinianow, JM's acoustical research and testing group manager.

Tinianow cautioned contractors and do-it-yourselfers to install these systems meticulously. "Even tiny imperfections in a wall or floor assembly, such as a leak or misplaced screw, can negate desired sound control results," he said.

For existing walls, it may be best to have an insulation contractor add loose fill blown fiber glass insulation rather than take the wall apart and rebuild. Noise can be better controlled when building a new home or remodeling addition.

For sound control, the key areas to insulate are exterior and interior sidewalls, ceiling/floor assemblies and the perimeter or any room addition. Interior sidewalls are especially important to insulate in order to keep noise from traveling between rooms. Insulating garage walls will keep the sound of a car starting out of the livlng area.

Wrap metal heating and air condi- a Basement walls. o Band or headerjoists. a Interior walls for sound control.

D IG CHANGES are under way in .|-lhow retail companies train their employees.

"Retail organizations have greater expectations of what training can achieve and workplace learning is being transformed as a result," says Herb Cohen, ceo of Mohr Learning.

Cohen cited six trends to watch for:

IFocus is on learning, not train-