Smart Solutions in Office Design

The time that people spend working in the office is a regular part of life that has impacts on people’s health. The office is a working environment with many physical and psychological demands, challenges, and stresses which have a long-term effect on the person working in an office. These demands, challenges, and stresses in offices can cause psychological problems and physical ailments. A meticulous and holistic design of the working environment, however, can promote creativeness and significantly contribute to the wellbeing of body and mind. This design also promotes productivity and innovation.

Highly absorbing sound absorber as a tambour door and furniture surface for modular cabinets

A large absorber area and at the same time the highest sound-absorbing values ​​of Class A are usually only achieved by expensive large-scale wall or ceiling installations. 
With vitAcoustic acoustic furniture, however, you get a mobile concept integrated in the office furniture that makes you less dependent on fixed installations. 
This is because very practically sound-reflecting surfaces are replaced by sound-absorbing surfaces.

5 years after the furnishing of Jungheinrichs new factory, Vital-Office is again the supplier for Jungheinrichs new HQ and SO. Green bamboo desks are chosen again. Rectangular desk tops with height adjustable bases are added new. And the ergonomic saddle like WEY-chair was choosen again, but in 3rd generation technique and design. Electric installation and plug-in possibilities from top of table and from below table top was a special concern. Acoustic partitions are especially made for height adjustable stand-up desks. The acoustic panel is lifted always by the highest table top. This ensures, that all sticky notes on the screens are always available to the users on both sides.

In order for a room acoustic measure to be calculated and assessed realistically, well-founded acoustic physical basic knowledge and practical experience is appropriate. In particular, the initial values of reality must be determined accordingly. For sensitive areas, the measurement should be carried out professionally by an acoustic expert. Alternatively, at least a provisional measurement should be performed with a phone app repeatedly. The provisional measurement serves only as a guideline for the selection of the room materials and their absorption coefficients in the acoustic calculator. Basically, any calculation without professional measurements of the initial situation is hypothetical!

Example:

Low frequencies are absorbed differently than high frequencies. Glass surfaces (Windows) or a normal office cabinet made of chipboard in different thicknesses, when you hit the resonance of the deep tones, can act for the low frequencies absorbing. However, a correct calculation is hardly possible due to the lack of measured data of the objects. On the basis of a measurement, special depth absorbers (vibrating resonators) need to be specifically set.

The calculations are based on measured data from objects and materials. Some of these are listed in the DIN 18041 exemplary. Others are taken from various sources for their correctness and conformity with the actual existing object or material there is no guarantee.

Area is important-small elements, for example, are simply overlooked by lower frequencies due to the long wavelength. Even with a-class absorbers, an adequately large absorbing surface is required in relation to the size of the room. In communication rooms, absorbers on the ceiling are sparingly and consciously dealt with. Here is more of a reflection desired!

Vital-Office therefore recommends the use of flexible acoustically effective products. Acoustic products that are divisible and easy to install and can be easily removed if necessary. This makes the investment in acoustically effective products more sustainable, more economical and more effective. For example, the VitAcoustic 3d frames. The VitAcoustic 3d frames have additional positive acoustic properties (among others on the lower frequencies) through the nested bamboo solid wood frames.

P.S. in the table "VO01" of the acoustic calculator, example values for a conference room and in VO02 for a club room are entered according to the adjacent 360 degree panorama picture.

Contributors to the Project acoustic calculator:

We are happy to share the original Excel with a contributing community similar to an open source project. Interested parties are kindly asked to contact [email protected] by e-mail. Further development steps are:

Extension and addition of the material and object database, in particular measured values of standard furnishings or entire exemplary facilities by room size.

Extension by further calculation formulas (currently only Sabine was chosen) and their comparative comparison.