BASF's acoustic system Abacustica now available from school outfitter Wehrfritz

Germany 's largest kindergarten and school outfitter, Wehrfritz, Germany has now included Abacustica® from BASF in its range End Quote

(1888PressRelease) July 07, 2011 - Thus, Abacustica can now be purchased for kindergartens and schools directly with furniture and toys via the outfitter's catalogs. Abacustica is a do-it-yourself system which allows teachers, children, and parents to improve the acoustics of rooms quickly and easily themselves. It reduces noise which is harmful to health and ensures better speech intelligibility. Abacustica consists of sound-absorbing panels made from the BASF melamine resin foam Basotect®, an adhesive from the BASF subsidiary PCI Augsburg and assembly instructions.

The lightweight ceiling or wall elements are noted for having very good sound absorption values in the medium and high frequency range as well as the frequency range which is relevant for speech. They are an economical acoustic solution in rooms with long reverberation times as the level of reverberation is already reduced with a small panel surface area. Abacustica is also environmentally friendly and non-hazardous to health. It meets the necessary fire safety requirements (flame-retardant: B1 according to German DIN 4102-1). "With Abacustica we have added a cost-effective and efficient acoustic system to our range. It complements our existing product range in an ideal way as our aim is to improve the everyday lives of teachers and children with high-quality and safe products," says Bernd Kiesewetter, head of sales and marketing at Wehrfritz.

For optimal acoustics in schools and kindergartens

The way that many classrooms in schools and kindergartens are constructed promotes long reverberation times because the sound is reflected on reverberative surfaces, e.g. concrete or glass. In a room with a high level of reverberation, the noise increasingly escalates because you have to talk louder and louder to overcome the reverberation. This is why an optimal reverberation time is the key to intelligibility and a low level of noise. "Experience tells us that the acoustic planning of classrooms is frequently left to chance even in new buildings. The effects of an excessively long reverberation time and insufficient speech intelligibility are devastating, for the health of both the children and their teachers," says room acoustics expert Dr. Christian Nocke. "With appropriate sound absorber panels, it is easy to achieve the guideline figures stipulated in DIN 18041 for classrooms."

The open-cell surface of the Basotect panels guarantees that sound waves are not reflected, but can penetrate into the cell structure. This is where the acoustic energy is broken down, that is to say absorbed. The lightweight and light-gray sound absorber panels made from the flexible BASF foam are glued to ceilings or walls using the corresponding adhesive, which adheres to almost all substrates. The assembly instructions explain how the panels should be fitted in a particular room in order to achieve the best possible acoustic effect.

For further information on Abacustica: www.abacustica.com or via e-mail to abacustica ( @ ) basf dot com dot

For further information on Wehrfritz: www.wehrfritz.de

Note to editorial offices: A press photograph can be found at www.basf.com/pressphoto-database under the keyword "plastics". In the near future, text and photo will also be available at www.basf.de/plastics/pressreleases.

###

space

Other Related Press Releases