Episode 37: The Quiet Mark & NBS Partnership - Prioritising Wellbeing in Buildings Artwork

The Quiet Mark Podcast

Welcome to The Quiet Mark Podcast. Hosted by Simon Gosling CMO at Quiet Mark, the global award programme associated with the UK Noise Abatement Society, this series uniquely explores the vital role acoustics will play in the future of global living, building and product design sharing conversations with thought-leading designers, architects, and sound experts. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognises environmental noise as the 2nd largest environmental health risk in Western Europe after air quality. Noise contributes to a range of physical and mental health problems, disturbed sleep, affects people’s hearing, communication and learning. And, in our smart-phone era, noise isn’t only about the big sounds of planes, traffic and construction sites, smaller sounds like someone FaceTiming on the bus or playing music loudly through their tinny headphones can cause stress, annoyance and impacts our mental health. During this time of Lockdown our world is much quieter than usual, every sound is more noticeable, quietness has never seemed more important or front of mind, where could this take us and how will we live, build, and work after this profound period of change? To help navigate the world-changes around us, these exclusive insights into pioneering projects and visions, explore the future on the other side of the crisis.

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The Quiet Mark Podcast

Episode 37: The Quiet Mark & NBS Partnership - Prioritising Wellbeing in Buildings

February 21, 2022 • Quiet Mark

In December 2021, Quiet Mark announced an industry-milestone partnership with NBS, a leading construction data and specification platform to empower architects to specify ‘acoustics first’, by providing a short-cut for specifiers to source responsible products. The aim being to elevate wellness through architectural acoustics; optimising the overall level of acoustic comfort for occupants.

The 3,600+ practises that use NBS to make 13.6M specification decisions per month can now filter for Quiet Mark certified products and materials, using the left hand navigation menu. This includes products such as Dyson hand dryers and Mira electric showers, or building materials including WoodUpp’s Akupanel Decorative Wood Acoustic Panels and ROCKWOOL’s Thermal and Sound Insulation Range.

For architects, engineers, designers and contractors NBS provides a cloud-based specification system that enables them to work smarter and reduce their risk. For building product manufacturers, NBS helps grow their business by exposing their products across the construction project timeline. In this episode, our CMO & Host, Simon Gosling, enjoys a conversation with 3 expert guests, each one representing a different part of that process. Together they explore the role of specification, the ways that they use the NBS platform, and what the new Quiet Mark x NBS partnership means for them, and the industry as a whole.

Stephen Hamil is Innovation Director at NBS - Stephen first started working on NBS products in 1999 and has played a big part in the development of platforms such as NBS Chorus and NBS Source. He was the project lead for parts of the UK Government’s BIM Task Group 'Level 2 programme'. Prior to joining NBS, Stephen studied at Durham University. His first degree was in Structural Engineering followed by a PhD in the digital modelling of building structures.

Richard Grove is Director | Europe at Inhabit - After 8 1/2 years leading the acoustics team out of BDP's London Studio, Richard recently started an exciting new role as Director | Europe at Inhabit. Part of Egis Group, Inhabit is a design-led, multi-disciplinary team of experienced architects, designers, engineers and contractors who are passionate about making a positive contribution to our built environment.

Gregg Wright is Director at WoodUpp, manufacturer of Quiet Mark certified Akupanel Decorative Wood Acoustic Panels, bringing the beauty and calming essence of nature to homes or workplaces. They oversee each area of production, from selecting the standing trees, right through to the distribution of the end product ensuring only the highest quality products are made for their clients.

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Simon Gosling

Host