ᐅ Sound Insulation According to VDI Guideline 4100 & DIN 4109 in Prefabricated House Construction
Created on: 3 May 2020 21:30
R
rainario1
Hello everyone,
I wasn’t able to find much or any information about the technical standards for sound insulation from prefab house manufacturers (timber frame construction) on their websites or in their building specifications. Neither regarding sound insulation against external noise (winds, traffic, etc. according to DIN 4109) nor sound insulation against neighboring buildings (where the stricter VDI 4100 standard should possibly apply).
Rhetorical question: Why is that?
...I’m starting to guess: I fear that the relatively demanding sound insulation levels II or even III of the VDI 4100 guideline can only be achieved with disproportionately high additional effort (and correspondingly higher costs)?
On the other hand, I found this in the wiki:
In a landmark ruling in 2007 concerning semi-detached houses, the Federal Court of Justice established that sound insulation levels II and III of the VDI guideline 4100, or the enhanced sound insulation according to Supplement 2 of DIN 4109, are to be regarded as generally accepted state-of-the-art standards, whereas level I or the DIN 4109 standard alone is not. (Federal Court of Justice, ruling from June 14, 2007 – VII ZR 45/06).[6]
The specification agreement did not have to explicitly mention the expected sound insulation, so sound insulation exceeding the previous DIN criteria becomes a normal part of the construction contract, provided it can be executed according to the generally accepted state-of-the-art standards. Uncertainties regarding the generally accepted standards were resolved by later Federal Court of Justice decisions, making high-quality sound insulation the default assumption in new builds. (Source: Wikipedia)
There are additional rulings pointing in the same direction.
I want to build two semi-detached houses to KfW40 standard using timber frame construction.
1. These should then be constructed “at least according to VDI 4100 SIL II or Supplement 2 of DIN 4109 without further mention in the building specifications,” right? That would be great!
But I don’t want to be that naive... I can’t find anything about this in the building and service specifications, and when I asked the manufacturer, they offered to install additional Knauf Diamant boards partially on the interior walls and a sound-decoupled ceiling (extra cost approximately 5000 euros per semi-detached house).
They say the stairs from the ground floor to the top floor are supposedly decoupled as standard.
I find that interesting.
2. Is there a prefab house manufacturer (timber frame construction) that is generally known to be particularly experienced in the area of sound insulation?
Having someone include a sound insulation certificate according to DeGA Recommendation 103 (2018) in the construction contract would be incredible (and probably just as unrealistic as uneconomical?)...
3. A building acoustician issues such a DeGA sound insulation certificate, but what does that report typically cost?
Does anyone have experience with this?
I won’t post a link to the DeGA Recommendation 103, but they have published quite a bit on this topic.
PS: As you might guess, I’m trying to resolve the apparent contradiction between timber frame construction and excellent soundproofing... maybe other builders face similar challenges.
I wasn’t able to find much or any information about the technical standards for sound insulation from prefab house manufacturers (timber frame construction) on their websites or in their building specifications. Neither regarding sound insulation against external noise (winds, traffic, etc. according to DIN 4109) nor sound insulation against neighboring buildings (where the stricter VDI 4100 standard should possibly apply).
Rhetorical question: Why is that?
...I’m starting to guess: I fear that the relatively demanding sound insulation levels II or even III of the VDI 4100 guideline can only be achieved with disproportionately high additional effort (and correspondingly higher costs)?
On the other hand, I found this in the wiki:
In a landmark ruling in 2007 concerning semi-detached houses, the Federal Court of Justice established that sound insulation levels II and III of the VDI guideline 4100, or the enhanced sound insulation according to Supplement 2 of DIN 4109, are to be regarded as generally accepted state-of-the-art standards, whereas level I or the DIN 4109 standard alone is not. (Federal Court of Justice, ruling from June 14, 2007 – VII ZR 45/06).[6]
The specification agreement did not have to explicitly mention the expected sound insulation, so sound insulation exceeding the previous DIN criteria becomes a normal part of the construction contract, provided it can be executed according to the generally accepted state-of-the-art standards. Uncertainties regarding the generally accepted standards were resolved by later Federal Court of Justice decisions, making high-quality sound insulation the default assumption in new builds. (Source: Wikipedia)
There are additional rulings pointing in the same direction.
I want to build two semi-detached houses to KfW40 standard using timber frame construction.
1. These should then be constructed “at least according to VDI 4100 SIL II or Supplement 2 of DIN 4109 without further mention in the building specifications,” right? That would be great!
But I don’t want to be that naive... I can’t find anything about this in the building and service specifications, and when I asked the manufacturer, they offered to install additional Knauf Diamant boards partially on the interior walls and a sound-decoupled ceiling (extra cost approximately 5000 euros per semi-detached house).
They say the stairs from the ground floor to the top floor are supposedly decoupled as standard.
I find that interesting.
2. Is there a prefab house manufacturer (timber frame construction) that is generally known to be particularly experienced in the area of sound insulation?
Having someone include a sound insulation certificate according to DeGA Recommendation 103 (2018) in the construction contract would be incredible (and probably just as unrealistic as uneconomical?)...
3. A building acoustician issues such a DeGA sound insulation certificate, but what does that report typically cost?
Does anyone have experience with this?
I won’t post a link to the DeGA Recommendation 103, but they have published quite a bit on this topic.
PS: As you might guess, I’m trying to resolve the apparent contradiction between timber frame construction and excellent soundproofing... maybe other builders face similar challenges.
rainario1 schrieb:
DGNB certificate for sustainable building Such private-sector certificates are usually not worth the paper they are printed on in single-family home construction. What criteria for sound insulation between residential units in semi-detached houses are actually required here, and what are the consequences of non-compliance? The highest certification level in these PR-driven schemes is usually awarded even with compliance rates below 75%.
rainario1 schrieb:
Accordingly, an auditor would cooperate with the manufacturer For the vast majority, there is at most a type certification. Your specific project will never be reviewed by an auditor (neither external nor internal).
rainario1 schrieb:
I wouldn’t want to go into this any further here Ideology and conflict.
N
nordanney8 May 2020 12:48MayrCh schrieb:
For the vast majority, they only have a type certification. An auditor (neither external nor internal) will never see your specific project. Yep.
A recent practical example from an office building: on the construction site, appropriate waste containers for different materials must be available (proper waste separation). This is actually checked regularly.
For a single-family house, this won’t happen, and no one can afford it either (if an office building can easily spend half a million or more on DGNB certification, that’s acceptable).
R
rainario18 May 2020 16:50Thanks for the information, both of you,
I did some further research, spoke with the DGNB and the manufacturer's sales representative, and found out: everyone is happy about my interest… well, partly.
The low required compliance rate and the DGNB’s points system are two "loopholes," because the manufacturer can compensate for weaknesses in the category "sociocultural functional quality" by excelling in another category and still easily achieve the Gold Standard. Meanwhile, my sound insulation is no better than before.
=> Better to invest the 1000 euros directly in diamond panels:
The manufacturer charges 19 euros per sqm (square meter) (about 1.76 sq ft), which seems almost like a rip-off, considering they can be found online for under 7 euros.
What do you think?
Maybe this helps someone who comes across this and is asking the same in-depth questions. I certainly learned a lot and got some reading material along the way…
I did some further research, spoke with the DGNB and the manufacturer's sales representative, and found out: everyone is happy about my interest… well, partly.
- The certificate costs 1500 euros per house (of which 500 can be reimbursed via the KfW)
- The DGNB website lists the manufacturer with test results for a "show house" from 2016
- The results may be outdated and certainly not transferable to my project (since the show house was different and definitely not a semi-detached house), but especially for "sociocultural functional quality" the score of just under 58% is noticeably mediocre. For me, this indicates that I need to invest some money here to improve the standard.
- As mentioned above, this is a series certification, meaning my project itself will not be inspected => the added value of the certificate is at best relevant for a naïve tenant
- I now have the full set of standard guidelines (a real bible!), but the point about "non-compliance" is an interesting and critical issue… for example, the DGNB Gold Standard is not available for my project… => a missing guaranteed feature
- The DGNB standard could therefore be regarded as the "minimum quality requirement" for the project. In that case, it makes sense.
The low required compliance rate and the DGNB’s points system are two "loopholes," because the manufacturer can compensate for weaknesses in the category "sociocultural functional quality" by excelling in another category and still easily achieve the Gold Standard. Meanwhile, my sound insulation is no better than before.
=> Better to invest the 1000 euros directly in diamond panels:
The manufacturer charges 19 euros per sqm (square meter) (about 1.76 sq ft), which seems almost like a rip-off, considering they can be found online for under 7 euros.
What do you think?
Maybe this helps someone who comes across this and is asking the same in-depth questions. I certainly learned a lot and got some reading material along the way…
R
rainario18 May 2020 17:11I am currently realizing that, unlike other certifications, the DGNB assesses sound insulation under the category of "technical quality".
The manufacturer’s result for the 2016 model house under "technical quality" is just barely above the 70 percent mark.
Overall, it appears that a score of just over 70 percent is considered a "pass."
It would be interesting to see a sample construction description from the manufacturer for the DGNB standard.
Everything else feels like guesswork to me.
The manufacturer’s result for the 2016 model house under "technical quality" is just barely above the 70 percent mark.
Overall, it appears that a score of just over 70 percent is considered a "pass."
It would be interesting to see a sample construction description from the manufacturer for the DGNB standard.
Everything else feels like guesswork to me.
N
nordanney8 May 2020 19:03rainario1 schrieb:
sociocultural functional quality"What does that mean? I’m always happy when my clients build certified houses, but I’m not familiar with the details.
Sound insulation is so important to you that you have gained considerable basic knowledge through your research.
As a resident of a Schwörer prefabricated house, I can tell you that building solidly with sand-lime bricks is the way to go; otherwise, you probably won’t be satisfied.
Above all, there is no need to reinvent the wheel—there are straightforward building materials that meet your expectations. Additionally, many construction companies are experienced in working with them.
As a resident of a Schwörer prefabricated house, I can tell you that building solidly with sand-lime bricks is the way to go; otherwise, you probably won’t be satisfied.
Above all, there is no need to reinvent the wheel—there are straightforward building materials that meet your expectations. Additionally, many construction companies are experienced in working with them.
Similar topics