Thinking About Noise Levels from Your Project is a SOUND Decision

Sound and noise are often used interchangeably, but a deeper look into their definitions reveals that noise is any sound that is undesired or interferes with one’s hearing of something while sound is the sensation perceived by the sense of hearing. Sound is observed in nearly every environment ranging from the hum of the refrigerator in your house to the whine of a sports car engine, to wind turbine generators, to the power generation and cooling systems of a data center. We also hear sounds from birds chirping in the forest, leaves and other vegetation rustling in the wind, or wildlife running through the shrubs. Sounds are all around us and we rarely give sound a second thought until it becomes noise.

When planning a new project at your facility it’s easy to overlook how the project might sound until after the project is constructed and becomes noise. Coincidentally, once a project is operating and generating noise, you will find that it is much more difficult to mitigate that noise. In some extreme cases, ignoring the noise until a project is operational could potentially lead to lawsuits and litigation, which are a headache for everyone involved.

Noise regulations are intended to protect communities from excess noise levels. These regulations often differ from community to community and have the potential to be quite confusing or only provide a qualitative sound level limit for a project. Alternatively, some municipalities simply point to the regulations enforced by a larger governing body (such as a county or state). There is even the possibility that a local municipality does not have any noise regulations and simply requires that a project not become a nuisance.

So how can a project avoid becoming a headache for you and your neighbors? Here are a few things to consider:

• Start thinking of potential sound level impacts from your project early. This could include reviewing the local, county, and state noise-related codes to understand what the requirements are around noise levels.
• Ignore Listen to the noise. Take a moment before a project starts up to understand what the existing sound levels are at your site. This could be as simple as listening with your ears or measuring existing sound levels at a proposed site.
• Consider the sound levels from proposed equipment associated with your project. Often this can be done using predictive sound level modeling. Building a sound level model can simulate the expected project-only sound levels generated by a proposed facility. These are typically presented as “worst-case” sound levels where each piece of proposed equipment is operating simultaneously. Sound levels generated by a predictive model can be directly compared to the applicable noise level limits.
• Consider mitigation early on in the process. Predictive sound level modeling can also factor in the impact of different mitigation options. For example, what if the project used a better enclosure? What would happen if a noise source were relocated to a different part of the site?
• Once a project is up and running, post-construction noise monitoring can be used to confirm the results of the predictive sound level model with respect to relevant regulations.

Ignoring the noise in the beginning stages of a project may lead to headaches later on. ALL4 is here to help. We have experience reviewing noise requirements, can perform predictive sound level modeling, and can measure noise levels from your facility and your project. Feel like sounding off to us about your project’s noise impacts? We’re happy to listen. Reach out to TJ Savino at tsavino@all4inc.com or 508-251-9906 to discuss how we can help.