Insulated roller shutter doors stop noise and trap heat

20th September 2017
Posted By : Anna Flockett
Insulated roller shutter doors stop noise and trap heat

The thermally insulated roller shutter doors from sara LBS are also effective for acoustic attenuation, as has been proven at ABP Beef in Guildford, Surrey where they were used to make sure noise was not disturbing the neighbours. ABP Beef, part of ABP Food Group, is one of Europe’s largest privately-owned beef processors and produces high quality ultra-tender beef for the retail, food service and food processing sectors. 

Trading for over 60 years, it has developed efficient sustainable production methods based on state of the art facilities, a continuous investment programme and innovation at every level. One of the keys to its success is a passion for building lasting partnerships with retail, manufacturing and food service clients, and this attitude also extends to other stakeholders including, in this case, neighbours.

ABP Beef runs a large abattoir in Guildford, Surrey. It has been on the site for many years and over time a trading estate has built up to one side of the facility, while on the other side there is now residential housing.

Aware that its compressor house and an on-site generator were noisy, ABP asked Nick Cox of sara LBS to suggest some options for reducing any possible nuisance. Cox recalled: “No neighbours, businesses or residents, had complained about the noise and measurements show that the plant was well within legal limits. But ABP’s philosophy of good relationships with all stakeholders led it to look at options to upgrade the facility.”

Most of the traffic into an out of the building is on foot, so there are a number of normal industrial standard doors. But, because large machines and plant occasionally need to be moved in or out, there is also a large (3x3m) access door. Originally this was fitted with a grill-style perforated roller shutter door, which, while its main purpose was for security, also allowed effective ventilation of the heat emitted by the machinery inside.

“It was fairly obvious that a lot of noise was escaping through the grill door,” said Cox. “We had to address the issue of whether we would be able to provide sufficient ventilation if we replaced it with a solid door. In fact, after some specialist advice, the matter was dealt with by the installation of special Louvre grills and vents.”

sara LBS can supply and install a complete range of industrial doors and loading doors including metal roller shutter doors, sectional doors and curtain style textile doors. Nick suggested the use of an insulated steel roller shutter door, in which the internal cavity of each hollow section lathe is filled with expanded polyurethane foam.

“Normally this type of door is specified for installations where thermal insulation is required. However, it is notable that they also have an acoustic insulating capability. Thus, we were able to look at a product from our standard door range, so we could progress the work quickly and there would be no development or testing needed.”

The job was characterised by restricted space for the new door, but with careful design Nick was able to fit in a powered drive based on a standard 240V drive motor.

“The door is only opened occasionally, but by having a powered option we can be certain it will also be closed again promptly after use rather than left open between uses – which would of course compromise its acoustic performance,” observed Cox.

sara LBS’s insulated roller shutter doors are based on its heavy-duty security roller shutter designs so have galvanised steel curtains which provide protection from vehicle collisions, break-ins and vermin intrusion. Insulating foam is added to reduce heat and noise transfer across the door.

A number of options are available, so each door can be customised to meet the needs of specific installations. For instance, they are available with manual push-up, hand chain or electric motor operation, pneumatic safety edges, a rubber weather seal along bottom profile, and fitted with vision panels.

The insulated doors are suitable for use in most internal and external industrial environments or as loading doors for warehouse loading applications. The use of galvanised steel protects against corrosion while the polyurethane infill is equally durable.

They can be supplied with Plastisol or powder coated finishes. For the ABP job the door was finished in Vandyke brown to match the existing cladding and other doors on site.

The main purpose of the project at ABP Beef was noise attenuation and in this the doors have proved successful, reducing the external noise levels by a significant 15dB, and effectively reducing the noise signatures of the generator and compressor outside the building. The powered operation of the doors encourages their prompt shutting, helping with both noise reduction and energy efficiency.

Cox concluded: “This project was driven by ABP’s desire to be good neighbours and has demonstrated that standard products can be used in ways make new uses of their key properties.”


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