Sound insulation design by using noise maps

The EU Directive 49 urges countries to prepare the strategic noise maps and the action plans for the agglomerations along major transportation routes and major industrial premises. Environmental engineers, town planners and architects are involved in preparation of action plans in which sound insulation of buildings are to be considered. This article describes a model to determine the required insulation performances for buildings’ external elements by using strategic noise maps. The model employs certain categorization for buildings in relation to indoor noise criteria and for insulation values to be assigned on building facades. A calculation procedure is integrated with the outputs of a noise mapping software to obtain the required noise reduction indexes in terms of both spectral values and the single-number ratings, i.e. “weighted- standardized level differences”. Calculated results are displayed graphically to be able to observe variation of insulation requirement throughout the surface exposed to noise source. Insulation map as a visual tool can facilitate building noise control and can be utilized in preparation of building specifications prior to construction phase and in developing the insulation codes by local administrations. Implementation of the model for two sample buildings located at different environments are explained in the article.