Interesting facts about noise
Noise protection walls can counter sound experienced as being annoying in two ways:
- Sound dampening:
The greater the mass that is subjected to a source of noise in closed form, the greater the effect. The insulation values of our system that is filled with soil total up to 67dB(A), depending on the product.
Changes to volume levels of just 1dB are perceptible to the human ear under certain conditions; a volume level adjustment of 10 dB corresponds with roughly the doubling and/or halving of volume that is experienced subjectively. The table lists volume levels and the corresponding noise sensitivity to some typical types of noise.
|
Noise level
|
Type of noise
|
Volume level
|
Sensitivity to
noise
|
|
I
30 - 65 dB(A) psychological reaction
|
ticking of a quiet clock,
gentle rainfall, whispering |
30 dB(A) |
very quiet |
| nearby whispering, quiet residential street |
40 dB(A) |
pretty quiet |
| Normal conversation |
50 dB(A) |
normal |
| Normal conversation at a distance of 1m, office noise |
60 dB(A) |
normal to loud |
|
II
65 - 90 dB(A)
Physiological reaction
|
loud conversation, shouting, car at a distance of 10m |
70 dB(A) |
loud to very loud |
| Road noise in the event of heavy traffic |
80 dB(A) |
very loud |
|
III
90 - 120 dB(A)
Damage to hearing,
Earache |
loud factory hall |
90 dB(A) |
very loud |
| Car horn at a distance of 7m |
100 dB(A) |
very loud to
unbearable
|
| Boiler maker |
110 dB(A) |
very loud to
unbearable
|
| Aircraft engine |
120 dB(A) |
unbearable
to painful
|
| |
130 dB(A) |
Pain
threshold
|
Doctors and acoustics researchers agree that raised levels of noise can damage your health. Anyone who is exposed to an average outdoor noise level during the daytime of over 65dB A, and of over 55db A during the night for long periods of time runs a high risk of developing high blood pressure and, as a consequence, a cardio-vascular disease. Hearing damage occurs after long term subjection to sound levels over and above 85dB A.
- Sound absorption:
This refers to how much sound is "swallowed" by the surface of the wall, rather than the noise that bounces off it.
With the naturawall system it is possible to achieve up to 16dB depending on the product.
Definition of sound absorption groups
|
| Group |
Absorption |
DLa |
| A1 |
< 3 dB |
not absorbent
|
| A2 |
4 - 7 dB |
absorbent |
| A3 |
8 - 11 dB |
highly absorbent |
| A4 |
> 11 dB |
highly absorbent |
RLS-90 concerning noise protection measures
- Volume level reductions of up to 15dB(A) are possible
- Shielding devices should be many times longer than the distance to the object requiring protection.
- Shielding devices under 2m are not, generally, of any use
- The visual link with the source of the noise must be interrupted
- Shielding devices should be designed to be as unobtrusive as possible
Additional detailed information
on the subject of noise is available on the website of the Bavarian Ministry
of the Environment:
|
