Sound reduction in samples of environmentally friendly building materials and their compositions

•The material with the best sound reduction index RW is adobe.•Adobe and pressed straw compositions are suitable for walls with low frequency sound insulation.•Sound reduction index RW of a 200 mm thick adobe wall reaches up to 43 dB.

In order to reduce the negative effect on the environment, environmentally friendly materials are being chosen for the construction of buildings more and more frequently. The building materials that are now used more commonly are clay, straw and reeds. The sound insulation properties of these environmentally friendly materials have not yet been examined thoroughly. This paper presents most commonly used sound reduction indexes RW that have been measured in the semi-anechoic chamber and determined during the simulation. It has been found that adobe, pressed straw and reeds (oriented parallel to the sound transmission) are suitable for low-frequency sound insulation. The material with the best sound reduction index was adobe. The sound reduction index RW of a 200 mm thick adobe wall reached up to 43 dB.