Assessment of indoor exposure to outdoor environmental noise and effects on occupant comfort in multi-unit residential buildings

Author:

Andargie Maedot S1ORCID,Touchie Marianne12,O’Brien William3,Müller-Trapet Markus4

Affiliation:

1. Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

2. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

4. National Research Council Canada, Construction Research Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Abstract

Outdoor environmental noise is a major source of annoyance in urban areas and exposure to it can increase the risk of severe health issues. Consequently, it has been the focus of research for decades. Even though people spend the majority of their time indoors, most studies use outdoor noise levels and do not include indoor noise measurements to estimate real exposure levels. This study conducted simultaneous indoor and outdoor noise measurements for 24 h in four multi-unit residential buildings to identify the levels and sources of outdoor noise heard indoors and quantify the effects of outdoor noise on indoor levels. The measurements were conducted in unoccupied suites that are most exposed to traffic and other outdoor noise sources. Surveys were administered following building occupancy to collect information regarding perceived acoustic comfort levels due to outdoor noise. The indoor LAeq,24h in three of the study buildings were above 40 dB(A) and exceeded WHO’s noise level limits. Regression analysis showed that outdoor noise only explains 14%–58% of the variability in indoor noise levels. This is mainly because of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system noise which resulted in consistently high indoor noise levels despite variations in outdoor noise. Analysis of the survey showed a poor correlation between reported annoyance and measured noise levels. But annoyance strongly depended on other factors such as suite location and noise sensitivity. The findings show that outdoor noise measurements alone may not be good predictors of exposure levels and the effects of outdoor noise on occupants.

Funder

William O’Brien’s Ontario Early Researcher Award

Marianne Touchie’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering Dean’s Spark Professorship

National Research Council Canada

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Subject

Mechanical Engineering,Acoustics and Ultrasonics,Building and Construction

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3