A sound isolation case study for Detroit Metro Airport's TSA K-9 unit break room

The renovation of Transportation Security Administration offices at Detroit Metro Airport included a new K-9 break room for handlers to file reports and for their furry partners to decompress between explosives detection sniffing patrols. Post-renovation, the (human) occupants complained of excessive noise due to luggage conveyer belts located in the ceiling plenum. Soundscape Engineering conducted an assessment to determine feasible noise mitigation solutions to increase acoustical comfort in the break room. The primary noise source was the spiral power turn conveyer and its four motors. With the implementation of gypsum-backed ceiling tiles, an insertion loss of 17 dBA was realized. Despite the NC 57 environment in the room, the noise reduction earned rave reviews from its bipedal users. This paper discusses the budgetary, performance, and scheduling considerations for the barrier ceiling solutions and the resulting improvements obtained in the K-9 break room.