What is the Honeycomb Attenuator?

The Honeycomb Attenuator is a simple yet effective 3D structure, laser cut from acoustic foam. The W-shaped tiles of foam are tessellated then stacked together, forming a simple honeycomb shape which restricts noise while allowing airflow.

Small, cost effective and flexible, it can be incorporated within the façade of a building (into windows, acoustic vents or within a raised floor) or built into partitions (in a bulk head or standalone
cross talk unit) to enable natural ventilation.

Once installed it allows natural ventilation and heat recovery whilst meeting the acoustic requirements and complying with current regulations such as BB93, HTM and others.

Different Ventilation Strategies

Focus on Vented Facades

One of the main difficulties in designing low energy buildings is the prevention of noise break-in from the many noisy sources affecting modern buildings, including motorways, dual carriageways, trains, aeroplanes and inner city noise. The acoustic design of the facade becomes fundamental - this means that an attenuator in the facade must provide high levels of sound resistance within a limited depth.

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. Crosstalk 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 bulkhead to accommodate big, heavy attenuators. The Honeycomb Attenuator provides exceptional levels of crosstalk separation. We’ve undertaken extensive research to understand the required levels of acoustic separation across these partitions.

Other Systems

The Honeycomb Attenuator is an incredibly versatile product, which is not limited to vented facades and cross ventilators. MACH Acoustics is passionate about all aspects of acoustic design. Every job is unique and presents new challenges. We have incorporated the attenuator into many builds using many different techniques, all performing to their required specification and beyond. It is impossible to cover all the possibilities on this website. Within his section are a few alternative uses for the Honeycomb Attenuator.

Noise Attenuation and Natural Ventilation

Both external environmental noise and internal noise can be reduced using the Honeycomb Attenuator.
It prevents disturbance and increases privacy and speech intelligibility while allowing air to flow into and around a
building. To listen to the effect of a Honeycomb Attenuator installed in two different buildings in different ways, watch the
videos of a school under a flight path and a busy open plan atrium.

Acoustic Performance

Designed for low energy buildings the Honeycomb Attenuator offers extremely low airflow resistance with better acoustic performance than conventional designs. The attenuator is adjusted simply by extending the length of the design. In this way it can achieve performance levels from 20 dB Dne,w to 40+ dB Dne,w. Each attenuator is manufactured to fit the project needs, but the table opposite provides a range of typical sound reduction levels.

How to Order

The Honeycomb Attenuator has been designed, developed and produced by MACH Products. MACH Acoustics‘ free design service helps develop the best acoustic design for each building. This includes an assessment of the acoustics and air flow requirements, detailing the optimum length and shape of the unit to meet these needs and establishing the best installation methods. MACH Acoustics will liaise with onsite and design teams and contractors as required to ensure a smooth design and installation.