Earns Grade 1 Certification for Floor Impact Sound Performance at LH Apartment Construction Sites

Technology That Reduces Floor Impact Sound Without Increasing the Thickness of the Finishing Layer

LX Hausys has developed a 'Grade 1 Inter-floor Noise Flooring Structure' that can help solve the inter-floor noise problem, which has emerged as a major social issue in Korea.

In connection with this, LX Hausys announced that it earned the highest rating, Grade 1, in floor impact sound performance evaluations conducted by LH (Korea Land & Housing Corporation) at two apartment construction sites (84㎡/55㎡ units). This performance evaluation was carried out from April to December of last year, targeting companies that participated in LH's '2024 High-Performance Floor Impact Sound Insulation Structure Technology Competition,' and among the participating companies, LX Hausys was the only one to achieve Grade 1 in both heavy-weight impact sound and light-weight impact sound, the two floor impact sound evaluation categories. In this apartment site performance evaluation, LX Hausys recorded 36㏈ for heavy-weight impact sound and 32㏈ for light-weight impact sound, earning Grade 1, which is awarded when the noise transmitted to the floor below is 37㏈ or less.

In particular, the floor impact sound figures achieved by LX Hausys are results from an inter-floor noise field demonstration conducted at an actual apartment site rather than in a testing institution's laboratory, and are therefore highly regarded within Korea's construction and building materials industries.

In August 2022, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport introduced the 'Post-Completion Inter-floor Noise Verification System,' under which inter-floor noise is measured even after an apartment is completed, and if it fails to meet the standard (49㏈ or less), remedial construction and compensation for damages may be recommended. As a result, demand for high-performance flooring structures has risen, drawing significant interest from the industry.

The Grade 1 inter-floor noise flooring structure developed by LX Hausys is a structure in which a urethane foam buffer material and heavy-weight mortar are applied on top of a slab (210㎜). The urethane foam buffer material (50㎜) and heavy-weight mortar (60㎜) were designed as a total 110㎜ structure, which is identical to the thickness of the floor finishing layer in existing apartments, thereby reducing floor impact sound without increasing the thickness. In particular, the high-performance urethane foam buffer material developed in-house by LX Hausys excels at noise reduction and shock absorption, effectively blocking heavy-weight impact sound transmitted as low-frequency vibrations when people walk or run.

Meanwhile, since launching its 'Sorijam' flooring—the first in Korea's PVC flooring industry to feature inter-floor noise (light-weight impact sound) reduction functionality—in 2004, LX Hausys has continuously introduced flooring, mats, and other products that help reduce inter-floor noise.

An LX Hausys official said, "We believe that obtaining this Grade 1 inter-floor noise flooring structure certification is the result of recognition for the R&D know-how and unrivaled technological capabilities we have accumulated through our research on noise-reducing functional flooring," adding, "As LH has announced that it will incorporate Grade 1 inter-floor noise flooring structures into its designs starting in the second half of this year, we will devote ourselves to related R&D and the commercialization of the technology going forward."

▲ LX Hausys earned the highest rating, Grade 1, in floor impact sound performance evaluations conducted by LH at two apartment construction sites.