Pilkington Optiphon™: silence is golden, granted by law!

What is the Italian legislation in terms of sound insulation in buildings?

Acoustic regulation in Italy, often disregarded and unfortunately lacking in univocity, has recently been updated for the benefit of the entire supply chain and users. A very important piece was added by the entry into force of the D.M. January 11, 2017, which updates the “Criteri Ambientali Minimi” (Minimum Environmental Criteria), often known as CAM. This Decree, improved by the D.M. October 11, 2017 and recently by the 2018 FAQ, covers all works on public buildings.

For these buildings, depending on the type of activity, and with higher severity for schools and hospitals, certain soundproofing values are required for the closures and partitions, which must be certified by qualified technicians.

The legislator, taking up what was already stated in the D.P.C.M. December 5, 1997, has therefore inserted the acoustic performance among the basic criteria to define the final quality of a building. In this way, as energy efficiency is a fundamental requirement in the choice of the future home, it is hoped that noise abatement will be recognized for its dignity and for the significant role played to ensure the internal welfare of users.

An elegant, comfortable and quiet residence is the ideal place to spend relaxing time. Quiet and peaceful work or study environments allow reaching high levels of concentration more easily, improving profitability and decreasing stress levels.

The glazed components can and must play a decisive role in the acoustic insulation of both the façade and the internal partitions: by avoiding unpleasant sound disturbances, they contribute to achieving suitable conditions for carrying out activities in the rooms.

The Pilkington Optiphon™ product is a laminated safety glass with a special sound-absorbent interlayer that allows obtaining extraordinary levels of noise reduction in contained thicknesses, without affecting the sizing and in line with any constraints related to the maximum thickness of the windows.

The Pilkington Optiphon™ range impresses with its amplitude, with glasses starting from 4.5 mm and up to 20.8 mm thickness for maximum acoustic insulation performance. This product range not only provides acoustic insulation, but also safety and security characteristics. The sound insulation laminated glass provides safety characteristic according to EN 12600 and is also certified to EN 356 for the resistance against manual attack.

By varying the type of substrate and possibly applying the coating on it, the possible combinations extend further: you can choose to use low iron content glass Pilkington Optiwhite™, or assemble coated glass to improve the glazing’s energy efficiency: choosing glass from the Pilkington Optitherm™ or Pilkington Suncool™ range, allows to meet thermal insulation and solar control requirements.

The Pilkington Optiphon™ glass range is therefore the ideal solution for applications where high acoustic performance of insulating glass is required by the client, by the legislation or in the specifications.