scholarly journals Measurements and prediction of road traffic noise along high-rise building façades in Athens

Noise Mapping ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Sotiropoulou ◽  
Ioannis Karagiannis ◽  
Emmanouil Vougioukas ◽  
Athanassios Ballis ◽  
Aspasia Bouki

AbstractConstant exposure to traffic noise pollution can have significant impact on human health and well being. Occupants of high-rise buildings along noisy traffic arteries are severely affected. In an attempt to contribute to noise protection design of prospective high-rise buildings, traffic noise measurements and prediction using the CRTN (calculation of road traffic noise) model, were made along the façade of a high-rise building in central Athens. The aim was to test the accuracy of this model in predicting the vertical distribution (mapping) of traffic noise along such building façades, under the local urban characteristics of the Mediterranean capital. The predicted and measured noise levels were found to be highly coherent with each other, and their vertical distribution pattern, by and large, confirmed findings from earlier studies. Nevertheless, the predicted values had a tendency of underestimation, with a mean difference −2.2 dB(A) with reference to measured values. It is considered that this underestimation is associated mainly with a newly proposed feature of urban morphology, namely (local) geo-morphology. By and large, it can be inferred that the CRTN model is a useful tool, suitable for the prediction of traffic noise along high-rise building façades during their planning and design stage. The results represent a further step towards more general application of this model, as well as a contribution to the use of this model considering a wider number of urban features.

2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (4) ◽  
pp. 2875-2886
Author(s):  
Jiping Zhang ◽  
Zheming Wang ◽  
Heng Ma ◽  
Weike Wang

The facade insulation (FI) is one choice for Road traffic noise (RTN) at a high-rise accommodation building nearby a motor road. The weakness of FI is from window, so the window insulation (WI) is also a prioritized descriptor. ISO16283-3 states a field method to measure FI using RTN. However, in room acoustics, besides FI, reverberation time (RBT) or indoor average sound absorption (IASB) are another two un-ignorable descriptors. When the value of IASB is small, the indoor noise is not only contributed from penetrating façade RTN, but also supplemented by the residual sound from high reverberation field, weakening FI. As a parallel to ISO16283-3, this paper suggests an engineering method to measure RBT and IASB of one high-rise building room close to a motor road by penetrating façade RTN. It can supply a convenient tool for the field measurement of RBT and IASB with RTN. At the end, we made a field measurement of RBT, IASB, and WI at a hotel room nearby a viaduct in Hangzhou of China, assistant to adjust RBT or IASB and WI so as to improve the sound quality of the hotel. Further, the method can extend to the lines of rail, aviation, and shipping.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8328
Author(s):  
Massimiliano Masullo ◽  
Luigi Maffei ◽  
Aniello Pascale ◽  
Vincenzo Paolo Senese ◽  
Simona De Stefano ◽  
...  

Road traffic noise is responsible for several negative health effects for citizens in modern cities. Inside urban parks, which citizens use for social inclusion and cohesion, psychological and physical restoration, and physical activities, road traffic noise may significantly reduce the potential of these places to induce or enhance well-being. Although access restriction schemes and screens could be effective solutions to limit noise inside urban park areas, preserving their potential regenerative role may engender mobility, social, aesthetic, and architectural issues. Due to the positive effects that natural elements and water sounds can have on human perception, and based on the previous findings of the beneficial effects of audio-visual installations, this paper investigates the possibility of using audio-visual installations that simply evoke some natural features to improve the restoration of individuals inside urban parks. The study has been carried out using immersive virtual environments in two different experimental laboratory sessions in Hong Kong (China) and Aversa (Italy). The results showed that the positive effects provided by evocative installations were similar to those provided by traditional installations. Furthermore, the effects on the restoration increased as the installations became larger and included enveloping shapes. Furthermore, we found that the amount of evocative water installations’ material was responsible for changes in restoration. In contrast, the Chinese groups were less influenced by these installations.


Noise can be defined as an undesirable sound that pollutes the environment. If noise is continuous and exceeds certain levels, negative effects on health can be observed. In recent years, the impact of environmental noise (road traffic noise, railway traffic noise, air traffic noise and industrial noise) on human health has come under increasingly intense scrutiny. Noise can cause a number of negative effects on health that directly or indirectly affect humans. The occurrence of some certain and harmful health effects drives the onset of others and may contribute to the development of various diseases. Health is not only a state of physical well-being, but also mental well-being. Mental health primarily depends on the quality of life, which can be affected by various environmental factors, such as noise. An important aspect of fighting noise is the most effective protection of the population by avoiding sources of noise and reducing it. This can be achieved by introducing new technical solutions and new technologies, including devices that generate less noise. Another important measure is educating the society and influencing the change of individual and collective behavior, which may contribute to reducing the harmful factor, which is noise in human life, and minimize the resulting negative effects on health.


2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (3) ◽  
pp. 3282-3293
Author(s):  
Jens Forssén ◽  
Andreas Gustafson ◽  
Meta Berghauser Pont ◽  
Marie Haeger-Eugensson ◽  
Christine Achberger ◽  
...  

For a model set of 31 different building morphologies in an urban setting, road traffic noise exposure has been calculated and analysed. For five of the building morphologies also vegetation surfaces on facades and roofs were studied. Facade exposures were analysed for both smaller (single-sided) flats and larger (floor-through) flats, considering the direct exposure from the roads as well as the non-direct exposure at noise-shielded positions like inner yards, applying a noise mapping software in combination with a prediction model for the non-direct exposure. Using noise indicators Lden and Lnight, the disease burden, in terms of DALY (Disability-Adjusted Life Years) per person, was estimated and analysed, via predictions of annoyance and sleep disturbance. The resulting effects of varying the building morphology and adding vegetation are shown and discussed, including effects of a bonus model for flats having additional facade elements with lower noise exposure.


2020 ◽  
Vol 184 ◽  
pp. 109299 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Montes González ◽  
Juan Miguel Barrigón Morillas ◽  
Guillermo Rey Gozalo ◽  
Luís Godinho

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2365
Author(s):  
Phillip Kim ◽  
Hunjae Ryu ◽  
Jong-June Jeon ◽  
Seo Il Chang

Statistical models that can generate a road-traffic noise map for a city or area where only elementary urban design factors are determined, and where no concrete urban morphology, including buildings and roads, is given, can provide basic but essential information for developing a quiet and sustainable city. Long-term cost-effective measures for a quiet urban area can be considered at early city planning stages by using the statistical road-traffic noise map. An artificial neural network (ANN) and an ordinary least squares (OLS) model were developed by utilizing data on urban form indicators, based on a 3D urban model and road-traffic noise levels from a normal noise map of city A (Gwangju). The developed ANN and OLS models were applied to city B (Cheongju), and the resultant statistical noise map of city B was compared to an existing normal road-traffic noise map of city B. The urban form indicators that showed multi-collinearity were excluded by the OLS model, and among the remaining urban forms, road-related urban form indicators such as traffic volume and road area density were found to be important variables to predict the road-traffic noise level and to design a quiet city. Comparisons of the statistical ANN and OLS noise maps with the normal noise map showed that the OLS model tends to under-estimate road-traffic noise levels, and the ANN model tends to over-estimate them.


Author(s):  
Andy C. C. Tan ◽  
Daniel A. Naish ◽  
F. Nur Demirbilek

Urban road traffic noise in cities is an ongoing and increasing problem across much of the world. Consequently a large amount of effort is expended in attempts to address this problem, especially in the area of acoustic design of buildings. Acoustic design policies developed by government authorities will typically focus on required transport noise reductions through a building façade to meet a specified internal noise levels. The significance of balcony acoustic treatments has been highlighted in recent decades yet this area has potentially been considered less important than the need for acoustic isolation of building facades. This paper outlines recent research that has been conducted in determining the significance of balcony acoustic treatments in mitigating urban road traffic noise. It summarizes recent literature, some of which focuses on technological advances in the knowledge of balcony acoustic design and some literature discusses the overall aims and benefits of balcony acoustic design. The aim of this paper is to promote the use of balcony acoustic design as a significant element in the overall solution towards mitigating road traffic noise in modern cities.


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