Preliminary evaluation of the relative importance of acoustic, non acoustic and context related factors in reactions to noise at the individual level

摘要

The reaction of an individual to a particular source of sound varies. This is dependant upon a number of acoustic, non acoustic and context related factors. This preliminary study considers the impact of noise arising from three sources of neighbourhood noise affecting people living in residential dwellings in the UK. The sources of neighbourhood noise include a blanking press, chiller units and drop hammers. In each case the noise was considered intrusive and at a sufficient level of interference, at the individual level, to result in complaints. This paper evaluates a number of acoustic, non acoustic and context related factors and how these rank, relative to the importance of those factors, in affecting noise reaction in each case. The preliminary findings demonstrate residents who were sufficiently annoyed to complain considered non acoustic and context related factors equally as important as acoustic factors. It would appear a greater emphasis on non acoustic and context related factors is necessary when assessing the likely negative reaction or affectedness arising from exposure to specific sources of neighbourhood noise. It is considered necessary to develop an internationally recognized questionnaire for assessing the impact of specific sources of neighbourhood noise.