Friday, 21 August 2015
Thursday, 13 August 2015
Keeping noise in or out of your home is easy!
Are you in a noisy neighbourhood or do you like to make noise in your home? Either way, you able to keep your home quiet or help your neighbours to avoid your noise.
Noise can cause a lot of disruption in your life. It can interfere with sleep, rest, conversation and can cause fatigue, irritability, headaches, stress and pressures on family life. Noise can cause issues and discomfort. To enjoy a healthy life, we need to prevent unnecessary noise entering your home. To help your neighbours, you need to contain the enjoyment of your music or other noise.
Neighbourhood noise
Noise could be acceptable to one person but unacceptable to another. It is important to work out the noise that you are trying to alleviate and the desired level that you would like to achieve.
When you are looking to keep noise in..... or out of your home, it is important that you select the right make up of glass for the noise you are trying to abate. Standard double glazed units such as 4mm/16mm/4mmm will be great for thermal insulation, however, they are not designed to insulate your home against sound. Having said that, the double glazed windows and doors will be a huge improvement on your 3 mm single piece of glass.
In addition to getting the right double glazed units in place, you will need to make sure that you have insulation around the window/door, in the ceiling and that there are no other weaknesses in the building where noise can enter or leave.
Using a different thickness of glass from the outside to the inside will provide a good outcome. Using argon gas in between the glass pieces will also improve the performance. Laminated glass is often used in this application. It is important that the two glass frequencies are not divisible by each other.
Which glass do we recommend?
Australian Glass Group is our main glass supplier and they have a product called Audio Shield. This product incorporates a sound insulating core interlayer which is sandwiched between 2 pieces of glass.
Noise can cause a lot of disruption in your life. It can interfere with sleep, rest, conversation and can cause fatigue, irritability, headaches, stress and pressures on family life. Noise can cause issues and discomfort. To enjoy a healthy life, we need to prevent unnecessary noise entering your home. To help your neighbours, you need to contain the enjoyment of your music or other noise.
Neighbourhood noise
Common sources of neighbourhood noise include:
- road, rail and aircraft traffic
- air conditioners, evaporative coolers and refrigeration units
- pool pumps
- TVs and sound systems
- burglar and car alarms
- household appliances
- dogs and other animals
- industrial premises and backyard workshops
- music from houses, commercial premises and concerts
- road and building maintenance and construction.
Noise is measured by sound pressure level which is expressed as a power ratio and calibrated in decibels (dB). The ear has a large dynamic range in audio perception with the ratio of the quietest to the most immediately dangerous sound level (capable of causing permanent damage to the ear) being in the order of 1:1 trillion.
Sound level (dB)
|
Approximate loudness relative to ordinary conversation
|
Perception example
|
|---|---|---|
Sources: NIDCD 2011 and Trace/University of Wisconsin
| ||
0
|
Don’t hear anything
|
Threshold of hearing
|
10
|
1/32 as loud
|
Very faint normal breathing
|
20
|
1/16 as loud
|
Quiet room
|
30
|
1/8 as loud
|
Quiet conversation/quiet office interior
|
40
|
1/4 as loud
|
Moderate quiet office/quiet rural area
|
50
|
1/2 as loud
|
Quiet suburban area/dishwasher in next room
|
60
|
Ordinary conversation
|
Average office/ordinary conversation
|
70
|
Twice as loud
|
Loud busy street/vacuum cleaner at 3m
|
80
|
4 times as loud
|
Noisy office/passing car at 3m
|
90
|
8 times as loud
|
Very loud heavy traffic/passing bus or truck at 3m
|
100
|
16 times as loud
|
Loud car horn/passing subway train at 3m
|
110
|
32 times as loud
|
Pop group/night club with band playing
|
120
|
64 times as loud
|
Extreme; jet take-off at 100m
|
Options to reduce noise
Recognising these subjective factors helps us determine when others are creating noise unfairly and how to respond. If neighbourhood noise is a genuine problem for you, or you believe that you might generate noise that could affect others there are some actions you can take:
- Choose a quiet neighbourhood.
- Reduce the noise by talking it over with whoever is causing the problem, or by lodging a complaint.
- Block the noise with barriers, sound absorbent materials and appropriate home design.
- Minimise your own contribution to neighbourhood noise.
- Carry out noisy activities during the day.
- Inform your neighbours whenever you need to generate noise, such as a party at home.
- Design your home to minimise noise transfer to your neighbours.
- Select a home that is well designed to limit noise transfer.
Traffic noise
For most Australians road noise is the most important neighbourhood noise issue as it affects a high proportion of the population, and the problem is growing as traffic levels increase. A 2003 study indicated that 20% of Sydney’s population were exposed to levels of road traffic noise that were well above those recommended by the World Health Organization for reducing annoyance and sleep disturbance. Many people complain that traffic noise has the greatest direct impact (see Transport).
Minimise the impact of traffic noise on your home — and your contribution to the problem:
- Cycle or walk, rather than drive.
- Buy a quiet car, and drive it less.
- Drive slowly and calmly and maintain your car.
- Shop locally and buy locally made products to reduce freight travel.
- Report noisy vehicles.
Take measures in the design of your home such as using suitable window glazing, managing air leakage, and designing shared walls and floors to limit noise transfer.
Queensland identifies designated transport corridors and New South Wales has a road noise policy. Check with your planning authority to see if your property is contained in a designated transport noise corridor (rail or road) or is otherwise recognised as being subject to higher than average transport noise levels. If so, measures need to be taken to ensure that your home includes appropriate design responses to the noise corridor.
Work with your neighbourhood, local council, community organisations and government to create more livable communities with reduced traffic noise. Central to this is the creation of urban villages based on public transport, walking, cycling, traffic calming and other traffic reduction initiatives.
Glass and noise
A 3mm single glazed window has a very low STC, and windows can let in a lot of noise, open or closed. The potential sound reduction from a highly insulating wall can be substantially reduced by poor window design.
Double glazing and laminated glass are both effective at reducing noise provided the windows are closed and the frames are well sealed.
The table below shows the percentage noise reduction compared to 3mm glass. Note that these percentage reductions are not the same as STC values.
Noise reduction for glazing compared to 3mm glass
Glazing type
|
Voice noise reduction (percentage)
|
Traffic noise reduction (percentage)
|
|---|---|---|
Source: Pilkingtons
| ||
6.38mm laminated
|
13
|
24
|
10mm glass
|
24
|
38
|
10.38mm laminated
|
29
|
43
|
Source: Pilkingtons
| ||
Glazing type
|
Voice noise reduction (percentage)
|
Traffic noise reduction (percentage)
|
|---|---|---|
4mm/12mm space /4mm
|
19
| |
10mm/12mm space/ 6.38mm laminated
|
46
| |
10mm/12mm space/6mm
|
34
| |
6mm/100mm space/4mm
|
57
| |
6.38mm laminated/ 8mm space/4mm
|
46
| |
NOTE: Thicker glass generally does not improve thermal insulation. For a combination of sound and thermal insulation use double glazing. Bear in mind that the acoustic insulation of any window is severely compromised when it is open.
To maintain effective ventilation with doors and windows closed, consider installing acoustic wall vents which are designed to provide ventilation while minimising noise transmission.
What is an STC Rating?
STC stands for Sound Transmission Class.
Basically, STC ratings are an established way to average how much sound is stopped by something. STC ratings are used for windows, doors, walls and most building materials. For windows, STC ratings range from 18 to 38.
STC ratings are the ONLY way to accurately compare various noise reduction products. An STC rating is an instrument measurement of how much noise is stopped. The STC ratings allow accurate ‘apple to apple’ comparisons.
The STC rating is the average amount of noise stopped at 18 different frequencies, measured in decibels. STC ratings are a logarithmic scale similar to the earthquake Richter Scale, which means each number is significantly higher than the one before.
What STC Ratings do Windows Have?
For single pane windows, the STC Rating is most likely between 26 and 28. The difference is the glass thickness and how air-tight the window is. Louvered windows can be less than STC rating 18 in many cases.
Solving a noise problem?
Noise could be acceptable to one person but unacceptable to another. It is important to work out the noise that you are trying to alleviate and the desired level that you would like to achieve.
When you are looking to keep noise in..... or out of your home, it is important that you select the right make up of glass for the noise you are trying to abate. Standard double glazed units such as 4mm/16mm/4mmm will be great for thermal insulation, however, they are not designed to insulate your home against sound. Having said that, the double glazed windows and doors will be a huge improvement on your 3 mm single piece of glass.
In addition to getting the right double glazed units in place, you will need to make sure that you have insulation around the window/door, in the ceiling and that there are no other weaknesses in the building where noise can enter or leave.
Using a different thickness of glass from the outside to the inside will provide a good outcome. Using argon gas in between the glass pieces will also improve the performance. Laminated glass is often used in this application. It is important that the two glass frequencies are not divisible by each other.
Which glass do we recommend?
Australian Glass Group is our main glass supplier and they have a product called Audio Shield. This product incorporates a sound insulating core interlayer which is sandwiched between 2 pieces of glass.
More Light, Less Noise
Audioshield quiets the hustle and bustle, incorporating a sound insulating core interlayer, Audioshield works with three-layer extrusion technology for a dramatic improvement in sound insulating performance. Audioshield looks and performs like a standard laminate offering improved safety, without the bulk or optical distortion. Audioshield has the flexibility of customisation to meet energy requirements, using tints and Low E glass – A complete solution to make your home a sanctuary!
A typical laminated makeup would be 3 mm glass / 0.38 mm interlayer / 3 mm glass. This gives a final product that would be referred to as 6.38 laminated glass.
Noise levels are measured in decibels (dB). A comfortable sound level is around 35dB in daytime and 30dB at night.
A typical laminated makeup would be 3 mm glass / 0.38 mm interlayer / 3 mm glass. This gives a final product that would be referred to as 6.38 laminated glass.
Noise levels are measured in decibels (dB). A comfortable sound level is around 35dB in daytime and 30dB at night.
Examples of noise and types of glass to help the noise
The performances will be even better when they are placed in a double glazed unit with argon.
The performances will be even better when they are placed in a double glazed unit with argon.
The brochure can be downloaded.
Source: http://www.yourhome.gov.au/housing/noise-control
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