ABSTRACT
In Germany a high percentage of residential buildings are erected using clay unit masonry for internal and external walls. The external walls are made of monolithic, vertically perforated clay units. The prognosis of the sound reduction index of the separating components between adjacent apartments in Germany is quantified using DIN 4109 ‘Sound insulation in buildings’. According to the editions of DIN 4109 until 2016 there was no normative calculation method for buildings with outside walls made of hollowed clay brick masonry. In 2000 EN 12354-1 ‘Estimation of acoustic performance of buildings’ has been published. Based on this document the German clay brick industry developed in 2010 a technical approval that included an official calculation procedure for buildings with flanking components of monolithic, vertically perforated clay units. In 2016 a completely revised issue of DIN 4109 has been published that includes now several calculation rules of EN 12354-1. At the same time the Association of the German Brick and Tile Industry launched the software ‘Modul Schall 4.0’ that enables calculations in building acoustics with a high ease of use. This article provides results about the certainty of prognosis of sound reduction indices of separating components in residential buildings with outside walls of monolithic, vertically perforated clay units in comparison with results of field measurements.
