INDOOR AIR QUALITY
Over the last decade there has been a huge emphasis on increasing the thermal efficiency in buildings, in particular private houses. We now have draught free, well insulated buildings. This has brought with it a whole set of new problems - poorer air quality. There is a significant increase of people suffering from asthma and other respiratory problems aggravated by poor air quality. The dust particles, mites and bacteria in the air are not visible to us. Any doctor will tell you that fresh clean water and fresh clean air are vital to maintain good health. Even if you are not a sufferer of a respiratory ailment there are other symptoms of poor air quality such as, drowsiness, aggravated sinus, headache, eye irritation, skin irritation and a general lethargic feeling.

The most effective way to combat this is to mechanically ventilate the building. A balanced ventilation system bringing in an equal amount of filtered fresh air to that which is being extracted from the building. Ideally, the fresh air being supplied into the building should be 'warmed' by the waste air through a thermal heat exchanger which prevents cross contamination. Airvents, as used in most buildings ARE NOT a solution.

Legislation was responsible for making buildings better thermally insulated and legislation is now responsible for making balanced mechanical ventilation almost compulsory in new buildings by legislating that all new dwellings must be of airtight construction.

SOUND QUALITY!
Noise is a form of pollution that most people in the world, certainly those living in built up areas, have to deal with on a daily basis. Noise can have very negative effects on your health - it can cause stress, headache, nausea and much more. The new contruction materials and methods used to improve the thermal insulation of a building have had a positive knock on effect for NOISE CONTROL. Legislation states the minimum noise levels for transmission of noise through walls and floors which must be achieved by the builder. The problem with these legislative noise levels is people assume they are buying sound proofed houses - this is not the case. However, the levels are universally accepted. The second and probably the biggest problem with noise is that it is subjective. People's ability to hear within certain sound ranges varies with age and the condition of the individual ear. A person attending a concert where the sound power level is extremly high thinks the noise level is acceptable, however, the individual who lives in the apartment 1km away and can still here the concert feels differently about it.

What we aim to do at MTD-SOLUTIONS is to help individuals, property developers, councils and consultants to achieve an optimum SOUND QUALITY, not just the legislative bare minimum.

What is SOUND QUALITY?
Improving the SOUND QUALITY of a building comes from analysing all aspects of the building and its surroundings and obviously its use. Good SOUND QUALITY in a home for example should allow residents to hear certain 'non objectional' sounds as no-one wants to live in a vacuum. It is acceptable in an apartment block or semi-detached house to hear traces of your neighbour being home. What is unacceptable is hearing your neighbour's phone ringing and the conversation that follows. Lexus at research and development stage achieved such a high level of soundproofing in their cars that test drivers were no longer able to hear sounds which their brains translated into road condition and speed etc. - this made the drive very uncomfortable, almost unnatural. It is all about balance - we do not want sound proofing we want good Sound Quality.

The good news is that good SOUND QUALITY is relatively easily achieved with good planning. There are a lot of products on the market that afford simple cost effective practical solutions. It is important to point out that although retro-fitting acoustic solutions is considerably more expensive and often constrained by existing design, that it is possible.