News Release
For immediate release:
September 23, 2011
For more information contact:
Michael B. Loughery, CertainTeed
(610) 341-7328
mike.b.loughery@saint-gobain.com
www.certainteed.com/pressroom
CertainTeed Ceiling Panels Help Solve Acoustical Problems for Airport-Adjacent School
(Valley Forge, Pa.) – Close proximity to an airport made excess noise a constant problem for St.
Mary’s Residential Training School, an academy in Alexandria, La., for children and adults with
autism. CertainTeed® Tufcore™ceiling panels helped solve that problem with a blend of sound
absorbency and containment in a recent government-funded acoustical improvement project at
the school.
The Alexandria International Airport acquired a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport
Noise Abatement grant to retrofit St. Mary’s Residential Training School with building materials
that would minimize the impact of air traffic noise and create a quieter learning environment.
Since the ceiling is the largest continuous surface in a room, it was important for the project team
to select a ceiling panel with exceptional acoustic performance attributes. The project’s architects
— Barron, Heinberg & Brocato of Alexandria and The Sun Group, Inc., of Jupiter, Fla. — found
exactly what they were looking for in CertainTeed™ TufCore ceiling panels, recommended by
the project’s acoustical engineer, HFP Acoustical Consultants, of Houston.
“The school buildings had lightweight concrete roof decks and metal roofs, and our project’s
acoustical consultant wanted to prevent noise from coming through the roof and to reduce
ambient noise levels within the building interior,” says Richard Sun, principal of The Sun Group,
Inc. “TufCore was selected because of its proven ability to both impede sound transmission from
the ceiling cavity and absorb excess noise from the room interior.”
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St. Mary’s Residential Training School –Page 2 of 3
Ceilings contractor True Wall Enterprises LLC, of Marrero, La., installed more than 50,000
square feet of TufCore 2x2 ceiling panels throughout the school in tegular grid and received
positive reviews from the school for their work. The combination of the TufCore ceiling panels
and the other various acoustical improvements made to St. Mary’s Residential Training School
created a more peaceful, effective learning environment, well insulated from the noise of the
aircrafts overhead.
“We’ve noticed a tremendous noise reduction since the completion of the project — our
buildings are much more soundproofed and quiet now,” says Bobbi Hess, director of
development at St. Mary’s Residential Training School. “We have some very large, open areas,
such as our gymnasium, and they don’t have as much echo now as they used to. The CertainTeed
ceiling panels played a significant role in these improvements, and they also give our ceilings a
more attractive, up-to-date appearance. We’re very satisfied customers.”
A composite ceiling panel, TufCore combines high sound absorption and sound containment
features, with an outer layer of fiberglass and a gypsum board backing. The panels are especially
well suited to minimize sound transmission between adjacent spaces sharing a common plenum.
For more information on TufCore ceiling panels, go to www.certainteed.com.
About CertainTeed
Through the responsible development of innovative and sustainable building products,
CertainTeed, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pa., has helped shape the building products industry
for more than 100 years. Founded in 1904 as General Roofing Manufacturing Company, the
firm's slogan "Quality Made Certain, Satisfaction Guaranteed," quickly inspired the name
CertainTeed. Today, CertainTeed® is North America’s leading brand of exterior and interior
building products, including roofing, siding, fence, decking, railing, trim, foundations, pipe,
insulation, gypsum, ceilings and access covers.
A subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, the world’s largest building products company, CertainTeed and
its affiliates have more than 6,000 employees and more than 65 manufacturing facilities
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St. Mary’s Residential Training School –Page 3 of 3
throughout the United States and Canada. Recognized as a 2009 and 2010 ENERGY STAR
Partner of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CertainTeed earned the 2011
ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award, the highest level of recognition for outstanding
contributions to protecting the environment through energy efficiency. The group had total sales
of approximately $3 billion in 2010. www.certainteed.com
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