What is noise pollution?
Noise pollution is excessive and often unwanted sound that can affect our health, wildlife and environmental quality. It is commonly generated inside industrial production buildings but also comes from railways, aeroplanes, highways, major roads near homes and outdoor construction.
How can it affect you?
At certain levels or durations of exposure, excessive noise pollution can cause damage to human eardrums and the hair cells of your inner ear, resulting in temporary or sometimes permanent hearing loss. It can also raise pulse rates and blood pressure, cause anxiety, mental fatigue, anxiety and irritability along with interfering with sleep, personal communication and recreation activities. Where children live in areas with high noise pollution, children have also been shown to suffer from problems with their attention span and memory impairments.
Limiting noise pollution
Based on how it can affect us, outdoor noise limits are important.
Standard house construction provides some shielding from external noise if standard construction standards are met and if outdoor noise is at an acceptable limit. Regulatory limits are in place that focus on allowed noise and noise volume at certain hours, for example noise that is allowed during daylight hours, evening hours and sleeping hours. We’ve all heard a party that went for too long or a neighbour starting their lawn mower too early in the morning. Noise pollution on highways and railways is partially mitigated by the introduction of noise barriers between the road/rail and close by residential areas.
What can you do in your existing home to reduce noise pollution?
Between rooms:
There are lots of ways that you can reduce noise pollution at home. Low levels of noise between rooms can be eliminated by using noise absorbing materials in your home, like heavy curtains, wall hangings or sound-absorbing tiles in enclosed spaces. This can help to eliminate or mask low levels of noise that can be distracting or where privacy of conversations is important between adjacent rooms in your home. Alternatively playing white-noise such as static, ocean sounds or rushing air in a room can mask conversations and other low-level noise pollutants from an adjacent space without being dangerous or distracting to the occupants. Another way to reduce noise pollution for short periods of time is the use of hearing protectors, such as ear muffs, or ear plugs – these however will reduce all noise rather than just noise pollution.
From external noise pollutants:
Rugs and carpets can help to absorb sounds. Hard floors and times may look good, but if you don’t have quality structural barriers to sound in place at your home, hard floors can cause sound to reverberate through your house. Wall coverings work the same way as rugs and carpets to absorb sounds as well.
Whilst you might not be able to change the structural components of your home, such as your walls and roof, making sure your windows are sealed can help to reduce noise pollution from entering your home.
An easy external fix to reduce noise pollution from entering your home is the addition of external shutters to your residence, creating a barrier for noise entering your home.
New home builds and limiting noise pollution
Panelled houses with quality insulation like Earthwool can limit noise pollution.
Acoustically superior windows (either double or triple glazed) ensure a well-insulated build as well. Insulation works to not only keep homes protected from outside temperatures (keep them warm in winter or cool in summer) but also helps to insulate a home from noise pollution.
Airtightness is at the heart of Passivhaus structures. Eliminating air leakage helps with insulation, temperature stability and creates energy efficiencies. Having an airtight structure creates a barrier to sound waves as well. The Laros use of prefabricated wall panels also creates an airtight structure.
On the external façade of your new structure, as with existing homes, the use of external shading, being roller blinds or other external shades, also creates a barrier to noise pollution.