Field measurements of façade sound insulation in residential buildings with balcony windows

Balconies fitted with windows are peculiar to multi-storey residential buildings in Korea, and function as a buffer zone for controlling elements of the outdoor environment, such as noise, heating and cooling load, humidity and so on. In particular, windows installed on the edge of balconies occupy a major portion of the whole building façades, and therefore play an important role in the façade sound insulation of residential buildings. This paper concentrates on the measurement and evaluation of façade sound insulation provided by the balcony windows of nine apartment complexes. Measurements were conducted according to ISO 140-5 and the single-number quantities were analyzed. The results showed that the single-number quantities of the airborne sound insulation of balcony windows varied according to the field test methods and conditions. In addition, the single-number quantities were consistent with the overall A-weighted sound-level differences between the inside and outside of the façades, particularly when using the global road traffic method.