Dose-effect relations to noise from neighbours

SUMMARY

By order of the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment a study has been made on noise annoyance from adjacent dwellings. The main objective of the study was to get insight into the relation between the acoustical insulation between dwellings (dose) and the noise annoyance (effect) Also, insight had to be gained into the influence of intervening factors which play a role in this relation. The insulation parameters used are I_lu , I_lu;k (referring to airborne noise), I_co. (impact noise), and the index measure GWK (noise abatement class). The annoyance and other relevant factors are assessed by verbal questionnaires. The study is based on the experiences in 660 most common dwellings in the Netherlands. In 202 of these dwellings the insulation quality was measured.

Main results are that:

- nearly half of the respondents hears sounds from adjacent dwellings daily, about 10% of them is very annoyed by these and one-third is more or less annoyed. These sounds are often inevitable 'normal' sounds from for instance toilets, bathrooms, 'normal' walking and 'normal' talking by neighbours. Most annoying sounds are loud sounds from audio-installations, banging of doors and banging on floors or staircases;

- 95% of all respondents says to be considerate with their neighbours at their own noise-producing behaviour; 80% thinks to be very tolerant with respect to sounds from the neighbours;

- on individual level the dose-effect relations are very weak (at one's best the general annoyance with I_lu : 7% explained variance) or are lacking (with I_co ). However: on aggregate level a clear decrease of annoyance is found, the better the rate of insulation is, especially concerning the general annoyance and I_lu., and a number of specific sounds and GWK;

- the judgement of the insulation by the respondents correlates better with the insulation-parameters than the annoyance. This judgement is especially influenced by the inevitable 'normal' sounds from the neighbours;

- many factors play a role as to why sounds which are heard become annoying. The biggest decrease of the noise annoyance from neighbours is expected if actions are taken which lead to a better 'subjective' judgement of the insulation between the adjacent dwellings, especially to see to it that inevitable 'normal' sounds cannot be heard by better insulation and to take care that the satisfaction about the dwelling in general (e.g. the state of maintenance) is high.

Among others, it is further concluded that:

- serious annoyance caused by avoidable sounds can not be prevented by better insulation;

- the more 'compact' the architecture of the built environment, the higher the chance of noise annoyance from neighbours caused by sounds, which are not always avoidable, like (birthday) parties, pop music from 'children's rooms' and 'do-it-yourself' activities, like drilling.