Focus on Cross Ventilation

Cross ventilation is one of the most effective forms of natural ventilation. Acoustics plays a key role in the design of a cross ventilated building as air must flow freely through the building, while maintaining privacy across partitions. Cross talk attenuators within partitions adjacent to circulation spaces allow cross ventilation, as well as provide privacy.

One of the drawbacks of ventilating through the corridor wall is the need for an exceptionally large bulk head to accommodate big, heavy attenuators. The NAT Vent Attenuator provides exceptional levels of cross talk separation. We’ve undertaken extensive research to understand the required levels of acoustic separation across these partitions. Depending on the air flow and the required level of acoustic separation, the NAT Vent Attenuator can be as slim as 600mm deep, and increased to 1200mm.

Core Applications

One of the key benefits of the NAT Vent Attenuator is its simple implementation of cross ventilation through a corridor wall, while still maintaining acoustic integrity. It also enables cross ventilation to vertically stacked rooms, vented through a single stack. This means that vertically stacked spaces no longer require independent chimneys to maintain the acoustic separation between rooms, resulting in a significant recovery of floor area and considerable cost savings.

Further detail

Performance

Cross ventilators are often used in combination with passive/natural air movement and a forced air system which provides heat recovery. The acoustic performance of the NAT Vent Attenuator is rated between 34 dB Dne,w and 39 dB Dne,w. Research shows that cross talk attenuators with an acoustic resistance of 34 dB Dne,w provide an equal performance to that of a solid partition containing an acoustically rated door (30 dB Rw).

The NAT Vent Attenuator can be designed to meet BB93’s requirements of 39 dB Dn,e,w with a face area of 2m² and a free area of 50%, plus a length of 1100mm.

Cost and Space Savings

The flexibility and lightweight nature of the Nat Vent Attenuator allow it to be installed in a number of unique ways. This can be extremely useful when a large, unforeseen obstacle needs to be negotiated - impossible for traditional, metal cased units.

The NAT Vent Attenuator’s tessellated, W-shaped tiles compress, and can be manipulated and cut to any size. This means the tiles are extremely easy to accommodate, and odd lengths and sizes can be used. This type of ventilation can also provide cost savings, as cross ventilation requires a lower floor to ceiling height than single sided ventilation.

Further detail