Acoustic Wall Panels — Absorption Classes and Use

What it is

Panels designed to absorb sound energy rather than reflect it, reducing reverberation and improving speech clarity within a room.

Type	Construction	Typical use
Fabric wrapped	Mineral or PET core, fabric face	Meeting rooms, offices
Perforated wood	MDF or veneer, perforated, fleece backed	Boardrooms, auditoria
PET felt	Recycled polyester, moulded	Open plan, screens, baffles
Baffles and rafts	Suspended vertical or horizontal	High ceilings, open plan
Micro-perforated metal	Metal with fine perforation	Corridors, durable areas

Specification at a glance

Property	Typical specification
Absorption	αw class A to E per EN ISO 11654, or NRC
Thickness	25mm — 50mm typical
Mounting	Direct fixed, or on battens with an air gap
Core	Mineral wool, glass wool, or PET
Fire class	Named EN 13501-1 class
Facing	Fabric, veneer, perforated sheet

Specifying it properly

State the absorption class or NRC, the mounting condition including any air gap, the fire class, and the area and placement. A panel's published absorption figure assumes a particular mounting; quoting the figure without the mounting is how a specified class A build-up becomes a class C installation.

Where projects go wrong

• Panels expected to give privacy. They do not insulate.
• Mounted flat to the wall when the rating assumed a cavity.
• Fire class ignored in escape routes and high-occupancy rooms.
• Placed decoratively rather than at reflection points.
• Fabric chosen for appearance without checking it is acoustically transparent — a dense fabric over an absorber blocks it.

Standards referenced

Sound absorption rating under EN ISO 11654 and ASTM C423. Reaction-to-fire classification to EN 13501-1.