Our world is filled with noise. From the drone of traffic to the buzzing of electronics to the hum of human voices, many of us have forgotten what true silence feels like.
Because we hardly ever have the opportunity to experience real quiet in our daily lives, it’s difficult for us to recognize the impact that such constant sound stimuli are having on our central nervous system. The reality, though, is that environmental noise, no matter its source, can have a profoundly detrimental impact on humans’ physical and mental health. And that’s not all: a noisy soundscape impairs your ability to function in the space, whether you’re there for business or for pleasure.
This is where FSorb’s pioneering acoustic solutions come into play. Whether you’re designing for business, healthcare, education, or recreation, FSorb’s solutions enable you to cultivate sound environments that promote productivity, maximize functionality, and optimize occupant experience. Our state-of-the-art technologies are born from an in-depth understanding of the science of sound in general and of the impact of sound stimuli on the humans who occupy a built environment.
FSorb’s team of acoustic experts and innovators recognizes the immense impact of auditory stimuli on the central nervous system and how this affects occupants’ physiological, emotional, cognitive, and psychological well-being. We provide value to our clients and those they service by crafting acoustic solutions tailor-made to calm the central nervous system. This, in turn, leads to spaces that are designed to enhance occupants’ experience of the space, promote their physical and mental health, and support their productivity and functionality.
The Salience of Sound
Noise pollution has been linked to an elevated risk of both mental illness, including clinical depression and anxiety disorders, and physiological illnesses ranging from cognitive impairments to cardiovascular disease to certain forms of cancer (1-4). It’s little wonder that long-term exposure to environmental noise would take such a wide-ranging and long-enduring toll on a person’s mental, physical, and emotional well-being.
It’s not just about your physical and mental health, though. The sound environment profoundly shapes the functionality of a space and the occupants’ experience of it. If you’ve ever tried to work in a noisy environment, you know how difficult it can be to learn, remember, and concentrate in those surroundings. Studies show that worker productivity sharply declines with exposure to noise pollution.
The harmful effects of noise aren’t just confined to the office, though. Sound environment matters, no matter what the intended purpose of the space. Whether you’re staying in a hotel, visiting an art museum, or shopping at your favorite retailer, the sound environment will shape your experience.
Consider, for instance, that restaurant you love, the one with the shining reviews and the delectable desserts you can’t find anywhere else. The dining experience would be fundamentally changed, and for the worse, if that restaurant’s soundscape were not optimized. A terribly loud restaurant is going to feel chaotic and unpleasant. No matter how superb the food, if diners are assailed by loud noises that make conversation difficult and enjoyment impossible, they’re less likely to come back.
Intuitively, we know why a noisy shop or restaurant is unlikely to attract repeat customers. It’s simply not comfortable to be there. But there’s science to support what we’ve all experienced at one time or another.
First, contrary to popular belief, our human senses aren’t separate and discrete things. They’re deeply interconnected, and what impacts one sense impacts them all. Research is increasingly demonstrating, for example, that the sound environment can impact our perception of taste. Similarly, interior colors have been shown to affect sound perception. For architects, acoustic engineers, and designers, then, the creation of an ideal soundscape does more than prevent noise pollution. It makes the space optimally functional for its intended purpose.
Second, there’s the reality of the Lombard Effect, a phenomenon that occurs in public spaces in which ambient noise multiplies as the number of occupants in a space increases until, at last, the space becomes non-functional. Due to the Lombard Effect, conversation cannot take place at a comfortable level, speech becomes largely unintelligible, and the environment becomes confusing and unpleasant.
This phenomenon is the result of the way humans instinctively and inevitably respond to the presence of ambient noise in an environment. In most public spaces, heating, cooling, and ventilation systems contribute between 50 and 65 decibels (dBA) of ambient noise to an interior space. Normal human conversation also registers around 65 dBA. This means that, even in a sparsely populated room, people may need to speak at a slightly higher volume in order to be heard clearly.
As more people enter the room, ambient noise increases logarithmically, as each person must speak more loudly than the ambient noise around them. This multiplier effect can quickly lead to an ambient noise level of greater than 85 dBA, an acoustic threshold defined by OSHA as unsafe for humans. Because every 10 point increase in decibel level constitutes a doubling of sound, this increase from 65 dBA to greater than 85 dBA expressed by the Lombard Effect reflects a loud and chaotic environment that’s both unhealthy and dysfunctional.
The Impact of Sound on the Central Nervous System
It all comes down to the impact of sound stimuli on the central nervous system. Our central nervous system is engineered by evolution to keep us safe and well. Its principal function is vigilance, remaining ever alert to signs of potential danger. That means that every sound signal perceived by our central nervous system is assessed as an indicator of threat to ourselves or those around us.
The human central nervous system, in short, is nature’s oldest, most sophisticated, and most complex security system. It’s meant to keep us and those we love alive, and because its job never ends, its vigilance never does, either. Even when we sleep, our central nervous system filters the sounds in our environment so that we’ll wake when we need to, as when our baby cries in the middle of the night, when the smoke alarm sounds, or when there’s a muffled footstep outside the house in the small hours of the morning.
The human auditory processing system is the miraculous mechanism through which our central nervous system receives and translates auditory input into meaningful information about our environment. This includes enabling us to determine when a space (or a situation) is safe and when it’s not.
While the vigilance of the central nervous system is remarkable for keeping us in times of danger, we’re not exactly fending off saber-toothed tigers or fleeing from rampaging hordes of barbarians these days. But humans’ inner alert system hasn’t quite kept up with the pace of modern innovation, and so the sounds of everyday life in the 21st century trigger those same primitive responses in the central nervous system today that wild animals and attacking enemies did a millennia ago.
This means that exposure to environmental noise pollution puts our central nervous system in a perpetual state of arousal, triggering an ongoing fight-or-flight response. It’s this sustained stress response that induces the physical, cognitive, and psychological harms described above. Consistently elevated levels of cortisol, the body’s principal stress hormone, impacts cognitive functioning, healthy development in children and adolescents, emotional and psychological well-being, and overall disease and mortality risk (5-7).
How Reducing Sound Helps
Given the demonstrable harms of noise pollution derived from its detrimental impact on the central nervous system, it’s perhaps not surprising that the reduction of noise has an equal and opposite effect. On a practical level, of course, a functional and inviting soundscape makes it easier for people to connect with one another.
Conversations between friends, family, and colleagues can last longer and be more fruitful and enjoyable. Speakers don’t have to shout to be heard, and listeners don’t have to strain to hear and understand. Speech is more easily intelligible. People can literally and figuratively understand each other better. The result is stronger relationships and more effective collaboration between colleagues and peers.
From a physical and mental health perspective, of course, the benefits of sound reduction are also obvious. When the body is released from the endless cycle of fight or flight, the effects ripple across every bodily system. Respiration and heart rate slow, blood pressure decreases, skeletal muscles relax, digestion improves, and the anxiety-inducing impacts of cortisol are mitigated.
As a result, you feel better and your overall mood and outlook improve. Because the brain and body are no longer held hostage by the stress response, executive brain function increases. Your ability to focus, remember, and learn improves.
A peaceful sound environment, ultimately, offers a refuge from the cacophony of modern life. And while quiet can’t eliminate life’s inevitable worries, the stresses of work and home, they can make these challenges more bearable. The opportunity to take a break in a hushed and restful space in the middle of a difficult day or to escape to a secluded and tranquil vacation spot a couple of times a year can be everything you need to recharge and refocus.
If you’re a contractor, architect, engineer, or business owner, ensuring that your space offers such a tranquil environment for clients and employees is also critical. As has been demonstrated, an optimal sound environment strongly influences the productivity and performance of workers. It also shapes clients’ experience. If you want a healthy, happy, and loyal clientele, then providing an optimal sound environment is essential.
How FSorb Helps Reduce Sound
FSorb is the industry leader in acoustic innovations for businesses, public and government agencies, and the education and healthcare systems. Our wide range of customizable and eco-friendly acoustic panels, tiles, clouds, and baffles means that there is a proven sound treatment solution for every need and all environments.
Our vast and growing line of products includes our ½ inch, 1 inch, and 2-inch panels, Silentline baffles, Quietgrid systems, EPIQ Industrial absorbers, and our newest products:
Serenicloud: This versatile suspended acoustic ceiling tile system is ideal both for absorbing unwanted noise and for creating zones of sound to facilitate both confidential conversations and public speaking in an array of environments, including open-plan office spaces, schools and lecture halls, restaurants, retail shops, and lobbies.
Shikiri: Shikiri adds a decorative flare to your sound treatment strategy. These vertical acoustic panels come in scored and through-cut patterns in a range of colors and wood grain prints. They can be suspended at the perimeters of a room or may be used as permanent or semi-permanent room dividers that muffle ambient noise, prevent sound spillover, and support conversation in business, academic, and commercial settings.
In an increasingly loud and frenetic world, creating optimal soundscapes in the built environment isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity. Reach out to your local FSorb representative today to discuss how our innovative product lines can help you unleash the power of quiet in your next design project.
References
1, Li, X., Dong, Q., Wang, B., Song, H., Wang, S., & Zhu, B. (2019). The Influence of Occupational Noise Exposure on Cardiovascular and Hearing Conditions among Industrial Workers. Scientific reports, 9(1), 11524. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47901-2
2. Nserat, S., Al-Musa, A., Khader, Y. S., Abu Slaih, A., & Iblan, I. (2017). Blood Pressure of Jordanian Workers Chronically Exposed to Noise in Industrial Plants. The international journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 8(4), 217–223. https://doi.org/10.15171/ijoem.2017.1134
3. Clark, C., Crumpler, C., & Notley, A. H. (2020). Evidence for Environmental Noise Effects on Health for the United Kingdom Policy Context: A Systematic Review of the Effects of Environmental Noise on Mental Health, Wellbeing, Quality of Life, Cancer, Dementia, Birth, Reproductive Outcomes, and Cognition. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(2), 393. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020393
4. Lu, Y., Zhang, Z., Yan, H., Rui, B., & Liu, J. (2020). Effects of Occupational Hazards on Job Stress and Mental Health of Factory Workers and Miners: A Propensity Score Analysis. BioMed research international, 2020, 1754897. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/1754897
5. Bloemsma LD, Wijga AH, Klompmaker JO, Hoek G, Janssen NAH, Oldenwening M, Koppelman GH, Lebret E, Brunekreef B, Gehring U. Green space, air pollution, traffic noise and saliva cortisol in children: The PIAMA study. Environ Epidemiol. 2021 Apr 2;5(2):e141. doi: 10.1097/EE9.0000000000000141. PMID: 33870014; PMCID: PMC8043724.
6. Fouladi Dehaghi B, Khademian F, Ahmadi Angali K. Non-auditory effects of industrial chronic noise exposure on workers; change in salivary cortisol pattern. J Prev Med Hyg. 2021 Jan 14;61(4):E650-E653. doi: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2020.61.4.1380. PMID: 33628973; PMCID: PMC7888391.
7. Verheyen VJ, Remy S, Govarts E, Colles A, Koppen G, Martin LR, Nielsen F, Bruckers L, Bijnens EM, Vos S, Morrens B, Coertjens D, Loots I, De Decker A, Franken C, Den Hond E, Nelen V, De Henauw S, Covaci A, Van Larebeke N, Teughels C, Nawrot TS, Schoeters G. Determinants of Chronic Biological Stress, Measured as Hair Cortisol Concentration, in a General Population of Adolescents: From Individual and Household Characteristics to Neighborhood Urbanicity. Front Public Health. 2021 Nov 23;9:669022. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.669022. PMID: 34888272; PMCID: PMC8650704.
At FSorb, we are motivated by improving human health and do so by creating eco-friendly acoustic products. Our mission is to help designers build beautiful spaces that reduce excess ambient noise while calming the human nervous system. With over 25 years in the acoustic business we stand behind FSorb as a durable, environmentally friendly, and low-cost product. If you want an acoustic solution that is safe to human health at an affordable price, then we are your resource.
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