LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF FACADE SOUND INSULATION ON NOISE ANNOYANCE AND SLEEP DISTURBANCES

摘要

A national facade insulation scheme gave the opportunity to study the effect of this measure on annoyance and sleep disturbances. A survey, designed with a before study and two after studies (6 month and 2 years after) with control groups was employed. Of the 624 respondents who participated in the before study, 520 participated in the first and 326 in the second after study. The average reduction in indoor noise level was 7 dB from the before to the after situation. The percentage of respondents highly annoyed by road traffic noise inside their dwelling was reduced from 43 percent to 16 percent after the facade improvements, while the percentage that had problems falling asleep due to vehicle noise was reduced from 26 to 16 percent in the after period. Improvements in noise annoyance and sleep disturbance were maintained from the first to the second after period.