Healthcare facilities must meet increased demands for cleanliness and patient safety as the world adapts to new health threats. Answering the call to safeguard against infection and put a greater emphasis on the ability to clean and sanitize surfaces, CertainTeed, a leading North American brand of building materials, created Ecophon^® Hygiene Advance^™ Wall.

Designed for the rigors of everyday maintenance, Ecophon Hygiene Advance Wall is the only acoustic wall panel that satisfies FGI guidelines for use in restricted areas in healthcare spaces. The protocol mandates that wall finishes must be “monolithic, scrubbable, capable of withstanding cleaning and/or disinfecting chemicals” where there is a high risk of contamination.

Absorbing up to 90% of sound, Ecophon Hygiene Advance Wall creates quieter, calmer spaces, promoting patient healing and well-being. Plus, the same quick and easy installation that allows for cleaning behind panels means facilities can enhance acoustics without making major structural modifications to a space. Lastly, its size (≈ 2’x4’) and flexible orientation (portrait/landscape) means that Ecophon Hygiene Advance Wall can be inserted wherever wall space is available making decisions on retrofit applications by facilities easier.

Enhanced Cleanability

“The most important requirement of a sterile room is the ability to clean and disinfect the built environment,” explained Robert Marshall, Senior Technical Manager, CertainTeed. “In today’s challenging healthcare environments, cleaning has become more frequent and products that cannot stand up to routine maintenance will need to be replaced more often. That’s not the case with Ecophon Hygiene Advance Wall.”

Encapsulated in PVF film, Ecophon Hygiene Advance Wall panels are impervious to water. The stain resistant panel is also specifically designed for daily disinfecting with chemical compatibility including: Formalin, ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, isopropanol, sodium hypochlorite, sodium hydroxide. Ecophon Hygiene Advance Wall panels can also be easily removed to clean the back of the panel and the surface behind it.

Like other CertainTeed panels, Ecophon Hygiene Advance Wall is subjected to ASTM wash cycle testing protocol, to ensure durability and longevity at over 2000+ cycles, so specifiers can be confident they have selected the best products to handle continuous, rigorous cleaning regimens required in the most restrictive healthcare environments. 

The Added Benefits of Acoustic Control

In addition to its highly cleanable surface, Ecophon Hygiene Advance Wall provides exceptional sound absorption with an NRC of 0.90. This is critical in healthcare spaces, especially restrictive areas such as operating rooms and semi-restrictive areas such as isolation rooms all of which contain many hard surfaces and benefit from any augmentation of sound absorption.

“Research indicates that high noise levels in healthcare environments have adverse physiological and psychological effects on patients and increase the likelihood of medical errors by critical care personnel,” explained Marshall. “But controlling acoustics isn’t just about patient comfort, it’s also about helping doctors, nurses and medical staff hear clearly and correctly. It is likely there isn’t a more stressful environment in a hospital than an operating room. Until the introduction of Ecophon Hygiene Advance Wall, the options were few or non-existent for creating quieter workspaces. Reduced noise is an obvious stress reducer and perhaps most importantly, quiet spaces improve communication quality where communication is vital,” explained Marshall.

Increasing Air Flow

Today’s facilities must consider air flow more than ever before. Upgrading ventilation can lead to problems such as soilage around vents and other build-up of particulate which can contaminate otherwise sterile environments. CertainTeed panels are designed with smooth surfaces that make it nearly impossible for dirt to cling and collect, making cleaning and sanitizing much more successful.

A Portfolio for Healthcare Design

Ecophon Hygiene Advance Wall is the latest introduction to CertainTeed’s comprehensive portfolio of ceiling and wall solutions for healthcare design. From washable ceiling and wall panels that meet FGI guidelines to clean room suspension systems that provide a hygienic, particulate free, sealed ceiling systems, and everything in-between, this diverse portfolio of products keeps healthcare patients, practitioners, workers and visitors safe and healthy. Products include:

• 15/16˝ EZ Stab Cleanroom System
• Adagio^® High CAC
• Ecophon Akusto^™ One              
• AquaRock^™
• Ecophon^® Focus^™
• Envirogard^™
• Fine Fissured High NRC
• Sand Micro^™
• Symphony^™ f Rx
• Symphony^® f/m
• Symphony^™ m Rx High NRC
• VinylShield^™ C
• VinylRock^™

Whatever the healthcare design challenge, CertainTeed can help specifiers with expert technical support and a broad portfolio of innovative solutions. To learn more about Ecophon Hygiene Control and the full line of products in the Clean Campaign portfolio, click here.