NOISE/NOTES
By Eoin A. King, NNI Editor
NNI is on Facebook and Twitter – we try to keep our readers informed with noise news from all across the globe by highlighting interesting research and projects. Here is a roundup of some of the stories that have been making headlines. Follow @NNIEditor to stay up to date with all noise related news.
INCE-USA regularly hosts webinars on topics related to noise control. Recently in April, INCE-USA members Mike Raley from PAC International and Evelyn Way from Maxxon discussed how to incorporate acoustic and fire design elements for your building design projects. There are many design elements that work well for fire and for acoustics, however, there are also areas where what works well for fire can be at odds with what works well for acoustics. In this presentation, Mike and Evelyn discussed acoustic and fire design elements for basic wall and floor/ceiling assemblies and for design details like penetrations and assembly intersections. It is available to view on the INCE-USA website: https://www.inceusa.org/careers-education/ince-webinars/
Noise could take years off your life (NY Times)
The New York Times recently explored the health consequences of noise in its landmark project Noise Could Take Years Off Your Life. It is an excellent exploration of noise, and its impact on human health, including sound measurements from various locations around the US, as well as illustrating the biological effects of noise, how it effects the endocrine system, the sympathetic nervous system, and ultimately how it may lead to heart disease, heat attacks and stroke.
The Mayor of Dubrovnik, Croatia, has introduced new rules which have effectively banned tourists from carrying wheeled suitcases on the streets. Tourists not complying with the ban could be fined $288. As reported by www.wionews.com, people living in the city have long complained of noise that wheeled suitcases make when dragged across stone-paved pathways, with residents complaining the noise keeps them from sleeping almost every night.
Watch: Aviation Noise, Pollution and Health – Quiet Coalition Webinar
At a recent meeting of the DC Metroplex BWI Community Roundtable (RT), BWI RT member Jesse Chancellor screened excerpts from the June 2022 Quest for Quiet conference Aviation Noise, Pollution and Health: Connecting the Dots. This was to emphasize the serious harms, like cardiovascular disease, that result from repetitive high volume aviation traffic. Quiet Communities is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping communities reduce health and environmental harm from noise and pollution. It operates through five programs: Quiet American Skies, Quiet Landcare (formerly Quiet Outdoors), Quiet Coalition, Quiet Healthcare, and Quiet Empowerment (formerly Quiet Conversation). For more information see: https://quietcommunities.org/
The Guardian (UK), reports that pickleball – the fastest growing sport in the US and has become popular in the UK – has been subjected to recent criticism with reports that it is loud, dangerous and encroaches on much-loved tennis courts. The source of the noise is mainly coming from the ball… “when the rigid plastic paddle strikes the hard plastic ball, it produces a sharp popping sound. Multiply it by thousands of hits across thousands of brand new pickleball courts, all day and far into the night, and you end up with a lot of disgruntled local residents”. It appears that there may be a real problem with pickleball noise, as it’s also been reported on in the New York Times. The most recent YNYTimes article states that “the incessant pop-pop-pop of the fast-growing sport has brought on a nationwide scourge of unneighborly clashes, petitions, calls to the police and lawsuits, with no solution in sight”!
Fourth of July celebrations in the United States are usually accompanied with a fireworks display. However several cities are now replacing their fireworks for drones. Business Insider reports that some US cities in states like California and Colorado have replaced fireworks with drone shows to reduce wildfires and noise pollution.
