Luca Fredianelli

Global noise score indicator for classroom evaluation of acoustic performances in LIFE GIOCONDA project

Abstract The LIFE GIOCONDA is an ongoing project that aims to provide an innovative methodology to the authorities for supporting the environment & health policies by involving the young people in the decision-making processes. The project suggests a web platform able to relate air and noise pollution data in the schools with the students’ pollution awareness. GIOCONDA aims to enhance the awareness of students, teachers and local administrations on the noise issues in schools, presenting suitable tools to improve the public participative processes. This paper presents a new method that has been developed within the Project. It aims to evaluate the acoustic performances of a classroom and to suggest the use of a global indicator based on a group of acoustic parameters compared with their limit values. Whit the new method the comparison between different classrooms or different schools becomes possible, together with a homogeneous evaluation of the priority for planning noise mitigation actions. Several noise measurement campaigns have been performed to characterize the students’ exposure in eight Italian schools. The results are useful to describe the acoustic performances of classrooms.

Annoyance Judgment and Measurements of Environmental Noise: A Focus on Italian Secondary Schools

The effects of noise on students’ health, well-being, and learning are of growing concern among both the general public and policy-makers in Europe. Several studies have highlighted the consequences of noise on children’s learning and performance at school. This study investigates the relationship between noise judgment in school goers aged 11–18 and noise measurements aimed at evaluating their exposure at school. For this purpose, a questionnaire was administered to 521 individuals in 28 classrooms in eight schools of four cities in Italy, with different environmental characteristics. Using a Likert-type scale, a selected set of responses related to noise generated an Annoyance Index (AI) score for each student and a classroom median score (MAI). From the noise data acquired, a global noise score (GNS) was assigned to each classroom. A higher AI was found in industrialized areas and among younger students. No significant differences in noise judgment were found by gender. A significant inverse correlation was described between MAI and GNS, thus the better the acoustic quality of the classrooms, the less the perceived noise and annoyance. The results show that noise perception and consequent disturbance are highly correlated with classroom acoustics, and confirm that annoyance represents the most widespread subjective response to noise.

Analytical assessment of wind turbine noise impact at receiver by means of residual noise determination without the wind farm shutdown

Wind turbine noise (WTN) assessment by means of outdoor measurements at the receivers living nearby an operation wind farm results a complex task. Both the background noise and the source noise are related to wind speed and both contribute to the overall measured noise levels (environmental noise). Especially in hilly areas, many physical phenomena increase the wind shear, leading to an unpredictable relation between noise and wind speed. In many countries, this kind of assessment is even more difficult due to the national regulations requiring to compute the difference between environmental and background noise levels acquired in the same weather conditions. Thus, the residual noise is generally evaluated turning off the wind farm, with a consequent disagreement. This study suggests a procedure to simultaneously estimate the immission and the residual noise components measured nearby a wind farm when the residual noise is mainly generated by wind. This allows the evaluation of the noise impact produced by operational wind farms, without requiring the farm shutdown. An engineering method with the required scientific basis to be used as an assessment procedure by consultants and public bodies is thus developed. Particular attention will be put on the parameters involved in the procedure and an example of application is provided.

A procedure for deriving wind turbine noise limits by taking into account annoyance

With the increasing installation of wind farms, the attention of citizens towards wind turbine noise (WTN) has grown. Differently from some national legislations, the scientific community has promptly responded, increasing the studies and the social surveys in order to better understand the cause of disturbance and the indicators that relate to it. At first, the paper underlines the importance of low WTN levels for indirect health effects such as sleep disturbance and annoyance. The importance to consider noise annoyance in legislation is also discussed, as WTN is more disturbing than other most common noise sources. Then, conversion curves for equally highly annoyed are introduced considering the annoyance perceived by population in relation with the type of source. Finally, a specific limit value of 43 dB(A) for WTN is derived and suggested, comparable with British and Danish standards.

Prioritizing Process in Action Plans: a Review of Approaches

Purpose of the ReviewThe paper is focused on the prioritization process in noise action plans. The available indicators (noise scores) and methodologies for defining hotspots are analysed and discussed. Indicators and methodologies are classified in order to highlight their suitability for different specific aims.Recent FindingsThe revised annex II of the European Directive 2002/49/EC fixed population exposure and modelling issues leading to different approaches in the prioritization process. Unfortunately, the indicators for rating areas are not commonly defined and a validated procedure is still not recognized at EU level. Furthermore, the importance of considering annoyance in the mitigation process arose, and this paper summarizes the pros and cons of their use for the purpose of prioritization process. A recent attempt to combine annoyance evaluations with limits compliance in noise score for the priority definition is presented.SummaryThe paper classifies various priority indicators basing on their inclusion of compliance limits compliance, annoyance or both. Then, the methods for merging index values at dwelling for hotspot identification are classified according to their approaches, particularly between those using geometrical approaches, or needing reference administrative areas. The paper highlights the suitability of each method to specific sources, contexts and aims of the prioritization process. Merging methods resulted necessary whenever the epidemiological study is not the aim of the calculation; indeed, the mitigation measures could be planned for delimited and prioritized areas and not directly derived from building noise scores.