Improve the comfort and indoor climate of barracks with a robust acoustic solution
Barracks are a place where employees work and train, reside and live their everyday lives. This requires buildings and building materials that are not only functional and robust, but also promote wellbeing and a homely feeling. Troldtekt panels on ceilings and walls help fulfil several important purposes at once.
Most people spend a large amount of their time at work and at home. For conscripts, the two places are typically within the same walls. This places especially high demands on the design of future barracks.
Not only should the chosen building materials ensure a good indoor climate, they should also be durable and easy to maintain to balance total life cycle costs. Aesthetically, they should also contribute to an atmosphere where people enjoy spending most of their time.
Troldtekt acoustic panels for ceilings and walls can fulfil all of these purposes.
Short reverberation time and good acoustics
First and foremost, the cement-bonded wood wool panels absorb sound, ensuring good acoustics – both in rooms as well as common areas. In practice, Troldtekt helps significantly to shorten reverberation time, making it easier to have a clear conversation.
The different structures with Troldtekt acoustic panels yield different results for reverberation times.
For the best possible acoustic effect in residential properties, install Troldtekt acoustic panels directly beneath the 200–300 mm mineral wool and vapour barrier ceiling structure. An alternative to a solution with mineral wool is the two-layer Troldtekt Plus 25 acoustic panel, which effectively absorbs sound with a special acoustic fleece on the back.
Read more about good acoustics and see specific sound measurements with Troldtekt
Contributes to air quality
Another benefit of Troldtekt is the acoustic panels’ contribution to the space's air quality. Troldtekt cement-bonded wood wool is made of wood and cement. As part of our work with the Cradle to Cradle Certified® design concept, our products are thoroughly analysed for their impact on people and the environment.
In practice, this means that we know every ingredient in our products in detail and can document that they do not contain substances that are harmful to humans or the environment. An environment free from harmful chemicals is of upmost importance in barracks, where soldiers spend both their waking hours and sleep.
Troldtekt acoustic panels are also tested by Danish Indoor Climate Labelling in the best categories for particle emission and degassing.
See Troldtekt’s different indoor climate labels
Robust and durable with a long service life
The current state of many barracks clearly shows that the buildings are degrading over time. Operational stress is high, so it's important to choose building materials that are robust and durable – also over time.
In the Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Troldtekt is rated to have a lifetime of 50 years. But there are several examples of buildings where the panels have been in place for longer than that. In the meantime, Troldtekt is a simple product to maintain. In the instructions for cleaning, painting and repairing Troldtekt panels, you can read how to repair damage to individual panels and how to paint a Troldtekt ceiling. The ceiling can be painted over and over again without compromising the acoustics.
In addition to its long service life, Troldtekt is also tested to withstand high humidity. This means that the panels are also an obvious choice for shower and changing facilities, for example.
Read why Troldtekt is a robust and durable solution
Focus on the total environmental footprint
The service life of the materials is also one of the things that can have an impact on the overall environmental footprint of barracks throughout their entire life cycle. Often, choosing materials that last for 50 years rather than materials that need to be replaced every 10–15 years will result in a lower environmental footprint – and healthier overall life cycle costs.
Similarly, the environmental footprint will often be lower by renovating or transforming an existing building rather than building a new barracks from scratch. In some barracks, old Troldtekt ceilings can be given new life with a coat of paint as part of a major renovation. Elsewhere, concrete structures can be reused, while new Troldtekt panels can significantly improve acoustics.
New Troldtekt acoustic panels (in natural and standard colours) are Cradle to Cradle Certified® at gold level. In practice, this means that Troldtekt works strategically with the certification’s five categories: Material Health, Product Circularity, Clean Air & Climate Protection, Water & Soil Stewardship and Social Fairness. In all categories, Troldtekt is either at the second-highest (gold) or highest (platinum) level of the certification.
Troldtekt can also have a positive impact on a number of criteria when a building is to achieve certification according to DGNB or another of the standards for sustainability in construction.
Flexible design and easy installation
Finally, there is the aesthetic appearance, which is also essential when you have to both work and live in a barracks. Troldtekt offers a wide range of design options, from classic cement-bonded wood wool panels that add structure and a tactile look, to a selection of design solutions with lines or patterns milled into the surface. In addition, you can choose from a wide range of standard and custom colours.
The installation can also help give the architecture a special look. You can either choose an installation on wooden battens or a suspended acoustic ceiling in a profile system. The profiles can be either concealed or visible. For example, Troldtekt recently launched a special T35 profile system where the longitudinal profiles are visible but the transverse ones are not. This helps give the room a visual direction.