Airborne acoustic assessment of impact-resistant fitness flooring systems

Fitness facilities in residential and mixed-used commercial buildings introduce important acoustic design challenges that must be considered in a building. Cardio activities such as running on treadmills, group classes for high intensity training, and weight training areas introduce high levels of unwanted noise and vibration into a building structure. Isolated floor constructions are generally coordinated and implemented during design but are not practical when buildings are completed and occupied. Impact-resistant fitness flooring systems are typically explored and installed as an alternate approach to reduce the transmission of impact noise and vibration. Non-standardized field airborne noise measurements of weight drops were conducted on an existing gym and on four possible impact-resistant fitness flooring upgrades to assess the reduction of impact noise levels in the offices located below the gym. The measurements were also compared to the HVAC background noise levels to observe the increase above background conditions and provide a subjective evaluation. The results of the measurements show that impact-resistant fitness flooring systems provide a noticeable reduction of impact noise, compared to standard fitness flooring systems. The results also show that impact-resistant fitness flooring systems that include specialty engineered shock pads as a base layer provide a significant reduction of impact noise levels.