Housed in the former head office of its parent company, ATCO Ltd., it's appropriate that ATCO Noise Management Ltd. should be located in one of the noisiest spots in Calgary, directly underneath jet flight paths to the city's airport.  It's also appropriate that a company that hasn't made a lot of noise about its accomplishments in the international marketplace should be quietly building an international reputation in noise control technology.

John Evison VP Sales & Business Development

However, ATCO Noise Management's quiet anonymity may be a thing of the past, as it expands its client list in North America and moves into Europe with the recent opening of an office in England.  John Evison, P.Eng., the company's vice president of sales and business development, says Noise Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ATCO Ltd., is in growth mode, with an average annual 28 percent growth rate in the last five years.

The company scored a marketing coup earlier this year when it signed a $15 million contract with Siemens-Westinghouse Power Corporation to build acoustical enclosures for that company's generator units in the U.S. and Mexico.  And although Mr. Evison believes there is still room for growth in the U.S., the company is already moving into Europe where it recently completed a contract for noise control at a glass manufacturing plant operated by Owens-Corning in Wrexham, Wales.

Noise management designs and constructs noise control systems for compressor stations, power generation facilities and other noisy sources.  It offers a turnkey project service designing and installing noise reduction assemblies for sound levels that can reach 140 decibels, roughly equivalent to the noise made by an aircraft jet engine.

"That turnkey service is a major reason for Noise Management's success," says Mr. Evison.  "By providing design and construction for all noise control for a project, there is no confusion over who is responsible for acoustical compliance. If a system fails, our customers don't have to go to a dozen different companies to find out what went wrong and who is at fault," says Mr. Evison.  "They have a single point of responsibility."

At the heart of the company's noise control system is its proprietary acoustical "sandwich", layers of different absorptive, barrier and damping materials including metal, mineral wool, fiber glass and plaster board.  Traditionally, heavy solid panels were transported to the site.  They could be easily damaged in transport and were difficult to maneuver during installation.  ATCO's acoustical sandwich systems are much lighter-an acoustical panel weighs only one-third that of a traditional concrete barrier-and are assembled on site.

A team of engineers and draftsmen in Calgary design the noise reduction system to a client's specifications and Noise Management sub-contracts the transportation, construction and other aspects of the contract.  Noise Management extensively tests various acoustical materials at a lab at the University of Alberta.  Paul Wierzba, Ph.D., P.Eng., manager of science and technology, and the three engineers who work with him, constantly strive to improve the noise reduction capabilities and economics of their systems.

The company's turnkey service and its commitment to research and development have kept ATCO Noise Management on a steady growth path since it was founded in 1991.  That year, John Barrett, president of Noise Management and then president of ATCO Metal Ltd., was trying to keep his company afloat in a depressed steel market.  When Lafarge Canada decided to sell its acoustical technology, Mr. Barrett realized his company could fabricate acoustical panels just as easily as it fabricated metal cladding.  Early projects included compressor stations on an expansion of the TransCanada pipeline and acoustical barriers for rapid transit systems in Vancouver and Calgary.

Since then, ATCO Noise Management (established under that name in 1993) has compiled an impressive list of clients including TransCanada PipeLines, Delta Hudson, Nuovo Pignone, Praxair Inc., ICA/Fluor Daniel, Pacific Gas Transmission Company and BOC Gases.  Mr. Evison is confident that more U.S. and European clients will soon be added to that list, and that's something to make a noise about.