Sound-proofing Hotels: Research Study of the Tundra Resort

In September 2003, famous Lambeau Field Stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin - house of the popular NFL Green Bay Packers - finished a major $297 thousand makeover. The revitalization of the aging sports locale offered business a boost throughout the region surrounding the stadium.One such beneficiary was the newest Tundra Lodge Resort. Just accomplished and only four blocks down (Coach Vince) Lombardi Avenue, the two grand openings both welcomed visitors to the revitalized stadium district.The 161-room Tundra Lodge is a breathtaking property in its own right, with an austere topic through the duration of, which includes a crackling fire in a 45-foot large foyer fire warming the cool nights of basketball season, a convention center for conferences, an arcade filled with merchants, restaurants and entertainment and a year-round indoor water park with slides, flights and pools-of-fun for all.Perfectly located to welcome the loyal 'cheese head' Green and Gold supporters - many who regularly travel long distances to attend games - at the grand opening the Tundra Lodge was ready for a big kick-off in every respect.Penalty: Sound Waves in MotionIn the first few days, the Tundra's Managing Director of Engineering, Melanie Novinska, observed carefully as guest rooms begun to load. All went well at first - with only partial occupancy - but problems started to surface.At first, while the Lodge neared total capacity, it had been only an occasional complaint about ambient noise originating from adjacent rooms. Then, what began as a trickle of complaints suddenly swelled into an increase of miserable visitors that lamented, threatened to see early and frequently required refunds.'It charge our house a lot of discounted areas and records for individuals to provide us another try,' said Novinska. 'The sound transfer in one guest room to another wasn't adequate. Of course, when you initially open any HotelplanungHotelplanung property, business is slow. You do not get the dilemmas until you're selling lots of rooms and friends are right next to each other.'Back In to a HuddleThe original architect-builder believed the resilient channel walls might supply an STC (Sound Transmission Class) status of about 50. In reality, the very best performing surfaces came in at only 37 and the worst were an STC ranking of 34 - only a degree or two above 5/8-inch standard drywall.The lodging business is heavily impacted by word-of-mouth, and Novinska estimated the noise isolation dilemmas of the original building were causing 40% to 50% percent of normal repeat business to just move away.Since she did not have an architect or contractor who had been a specialist in architectural acoustics, Novinska attempted to teach herself and find a good solution.'I found Serious Materials' soundproofing drywall online and wanted information and a sample. Then, we assembled an answer to fix the situation using that,' to replace the resilient channel, she explains.After confirming the efficiency of soundproofing drywall with with Patrick McCormick of Brandner Engineering, contractor H.J. Martin began removing the drywall and totally clearing and tearing-down each of the 161-rooms one room in a time.An electrician offset previously back-to-back retailers and installed insulation where required. Martin's staff then screw-mounted the soundproofing drywall and followed up with recording, aesthetic consistency and new color. 'We could complete about 6 to 8 rooms every five times', Novinska recalls.Score!'Before, sound indication was really bad,' notes H.J. Martin drywall installer Jay Hussong. 'You could hear conversations right through the walls. After, we measured the rooms at STC 50 or better. You might actually hear (or not hear) the difference.All sound complaints ended,' states Novinska. 'The difference was remarkable and occupancy costs went up. Severe Materials' soundproofing drywall was the ideal solution.Start with Serious Materials' soundproofing drywallinstead of sturdy channels and properly place your shops and any opportunities on back-to-back guestrooms, and you'll receive quiet rooms,' she adds.Novinska's ultimate advice: 'Also hire a designer who knows about isolating noise.'