Ceiling Systems for High Performing Schools
Good acoustics throughout a school can have a life-changing impact. Designing with the right ceiling makes a big difference of occupants of all ages.
Create Healthy Learning Spaces
Meet green building standards, including LEED v4.1
Good acoustics throughout a school can have a life-changing impact. Designing with the right ceiling makes a big difference of occupants of all ages.
Reducing Noise. Evidence suggests that decreased noise levels in schools can be associated with improvement in student achievement.1 Ceilings with superior sound absorption play a critical role in noise reduction.
Rockfon products feature Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) ratings of .70 - 1.05, which are ideal noise reducing options for every school setting. The highter the NRC, the better acoustics in a space, which creates a more conducive learning environment.
Improving Speech Intelligibility. According to the Acoustical Society of America, U.S. classrooms typically have a speech intelligibility rating of about 75%. That means every fourth word is missed.
An investigation found that after treating a ceiling with sound absorbing materials - such as those in Rockfon tiles - students were able to hear teacher's speech more clearly.2
Allowing for More Complex Space. Schools are full of multifunctional spaces that require complex design solutions, including different acoustic approaches depending on the size or purpose of each space. With so many stone wool, metal and wood options, Rockfon has both an acoustic solution for every space and that can add style and beauty.
Rockfon stone wool acoustic ceiling and wall solutions help create beautiful, comfortable spaces. Discover how the Rockfon acoustics approach helps you design to standards like LEED, WELL, and FGI.
Children are often the most susceptible to pollutants emitted from building materials. This is because children breathe in more air and, as a result, are absorbing more chemicals that can be harmful to their growing bodies. Since most children spend the majority of their year inside school buildings, these projects deserve extra attention for IAQ.
 | The United States Environmental Protection Agency found that up to half of the schools in the U.S. have problems linked to poor indoor air quality.3 Rockfon offers a solution with products that are GREENGUARD Gold Certified for low VOCs. |
 | High sound absorption | |
 | Repel water and resist the growth of mold and mildew | |
 | Improved natural daylighting | |
 | Moisture and Impact Resistant |
New findings suggest that design, including color and lighting, can impact student progress ove the course of the academic year by 25%.4 With flexible solutions that offer different colors, shapes and surfaces, Rockfon helps bring inspiring design to the ceiling.
At Rockfon, we are also dedicated to building a better future, which is why we take great pride in our sustainability practices. Creating a green school not only lessens its environmental impact, it also costs less to operate over the life of the building. Our stone wool products are GREENGUARD Gold Certified for low VOCs, and our ceiling solutions can contribute to meeting green building standards, including LEED v4.1. Furthermore, our third-party Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) help specifiers make informed decisions.
At Rockfon, we're dedicated to contributing to a sustainable future during every step of our process - from sourcing to production to logistics.
Made with naturally fire and moisture resistant stone wool, Rockfon® Education Standard acoustical ceiling tiles offer a modern look while helping maintain indoor air quality and safety in education spaces.
Made with naturally fire and moisture resistant stone wool, Rockfon® Education Plus acoustical ceiling tiles offer an NRC of .80. With a clean, modern look and sound absorption properties, Education Plus is designed for optimized acoustics in classroom and office applications.
Made with naturally fire and moisture resistant stone wool, Rockfon® Education Premium acoustical ceiling tiles offer an NRC of .90 and support healthy indoor air quality. This new education product is perfect for library and media center applications.
Rockfon® Color-All™ acoustical ceiling tiles are available in multiple ceiling colors and is made from stone wool and has high acoustic absorption, and fire performance.
Rockfon® Infinity™ Standard Perimeter Trim is used to finish suspended acoustic islands and transition from one ceiling to plane to another. The optional paired bracket accessory allows the user to create unique open-plenum designs using standard ceiling transition trim.
Rockfon® Planostile™ Snap-in Metal Panel Ceiling System is approved for installation in seismic D, E, F applications and can be used in both interior and exterior spaces. These concealed snap-in metal ceiling tiles create a smooth, streamlined look while being completely recyclable at end of life.
Rockfon® Cubegrid® Open Plenum 15/16" Ceiling System provides atheistic plenum masking and can be used to bring attention to specific spaces in a building area. This open cell ceiling system features a minimum of 25% recycled content and contains no organic compounds to support mold and microbial growth.
What if as a student you could hear only 75 percent of the words spoken to you? What if as a ______ you could ___ only 75 percent of the ____ spoken to you?
Airplanes flying overhead, students passing through the halls and reverberation combine to form classroom noise. The acoustics inside education spaces have been proven to impact everything, from the ability of students to focus and understand teachers, to motivation, sleep and teacher job satisfaction.5 Designing a space that promotes learning requires optimized acoustics that consider the purpose of the space and sources of noise. Using materials with high Noise Reduction Coefficients (NRC) ensures sound absorption that reduces noise levels and reverberation time, ultimately improving speech intelligibility and acoustic comfort. Rockfon stone wool and metal ceiling solutions are purpose-built to provide optimal acoustic performance in complex spaces by providing superior sound absorption with NRC ratings up to 0.95.
Optimal acoustic design can be accomplished with three steps:
1. Select a Rockfon suspended ceiling tile to optimize acoustic absorption.
2. Where needed, use wall or plenum barriers to optimize sound insulation.
3. Ensure background sound level is within the desired range.
Natural light, color and overall appearance play an important role in designing a comfortable, aesthetically pleasing learning environment.
A study revealed that design, including color and light, can impact student progress by 25%.6 To create a more conducive learning space, traditional ceilings can be upgraded with white stone wool tiles that have a smooth, modern aesthetic. With contentment and productivity being linked to natural light, a ceiling solution must offer the ideal amount of reflectance.7 Our stone wool ceiling tiles and panels reflect up to 86% of all available light, limiting hot spots and glare.
Colorful panels, linear and curved shapes and materials that include a smooth or lightly textured finish, and solid or perforated metal can add interest while maintaining performance. Rockfon ceiling products offer the design freedom to create spaces that invite and inspire learners.
The right ceiling creates a happy and healthy environment for years to come.
Above all else, learning environments must be safe. Withstanding extreme temperatures of 2150°F (1177°C), stone wool does not easily melt, burn or create significant smoke. Rockfon’s ceiling tiles are best-in-class for fire and smoke safety, ensuring the strictest requirements are met with a maximum Flame Spread Index of 0 and a maximum Smoke Development Index of 5. All our stone wool ceiling panels are UL tested for fire performance.
Sources:
1 https://www.rockfon.com/product-benefits/acoustics/, 1. Harvard T.H Chan (2017) Foundation for Student Success
2 An investigation of acoustic treatment for children in a classroom of an elementary school, Peng, Jianxin; Wang, Dan; Lau, Siu-Kit, et al., (FindIt) Applied Acoustics — 2015, Volume 89, pp. 42-45, 2015, China
3 Effects of Classroom Acoustics and Self-Reported Noise Exposure on Teachers' Well-Being, Kristiansen, Jesper; Persson, Roger; Lund, Soren Peter, et al. (FindIt) Environment and Behavior — 2013, Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 283-300, 2013, Denmark
4 https://www.wired.com/2013/01/school-design-affect-grades/
5 https://www.wseas.us/e-library/conferences/2013/Malaysia/MACMESE/MACMESE-20.pdf
We provide customers with a complete acoustic ceiling system offering, combining sound absorbing ceiling tiles and specialty metal panels with suspension grid systems and accessories.
