Earns Grade 1 Floor Impact Sound Performance Certification 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 floor structure’ that can help address 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 top 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 on 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 earn Grade 1 in both heavyweight impact sound and lightweight impact sound, the floor impact sound evaluation categories. In this apartment site performance evaluation, LX Hausys recorded 36㏈ for heavyweight impact sound and 32㏈ for lightweight impact sound, earning Grade 1, which is granted when noise transmitted to the floor below is 37㏈ or lower.
In particular, the floor impact sound figures earned by LX Hausys were the results of inter-floor noise verification conducted at an actual apartment site rather than in a testing agency’s laboratory, which is why they are being highly regarded within Korea’s construction and building materials industries.
When the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport introduced the ‘post-completion inter-floor noise verification system’ in August 2022—under which inter-floor noise is measured even after an apartment is completed, and if it fails to meet the standard (49㏈ or lower), remedial construction and damage compensation may be recommended—demand for high-performance floor structures rose, drawing significant interest from the industry.
The Grade 1 inter-floor noise floor structure developed by LX Hausys applies a urethane foam buffer material and heavyweight mortar on top of a slab (210㎜). The urethane foam buffer material (50㎜) and heavyweight mortar (60㎜) are designed into a structure totaling 110㎜, which is the same as the thickness of the floor finishing layer in existing apartments, thereby reducing floor impact sound without increasing 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 heavyweight impact sound that is transmitted as low-frequency vibration when people walk or run.
Meanwhile, since launching its ‘Sorijam’ flooring—the first in Korea’s PVC flooring industry to feature inter-floor noise (lightweight impact sound) reduction functionality—in 2004, LX Hausys has continued to introduce flooring, mats, and other products that help reduce inter-floor noise.
An LX Hausys official said, “We believe that earning this Grade 1 inter-floor noise floor structure certification is the result of having our R&D know-how and unrivaled technological capabilities—accumulated through our research on inter-floor noise reduction functional flooring—recognized,” adding, “As LH has announced that it will reflect the Grade 1 inter-floor noise floor structure in its designs starting in the second half of this year, we will devote ourselves to related research and development and the commercialization of the technology going forward.”
▲ LX Hausys earned the top rating, Grade 1, in floor impact sound performance evaluations conducted by LH at two apartment construction sites.