New way urban design and construction reduces aircraft noise nuisance

Research noise adaptive building at Schiphol completed

A large number of residents of Haarlemmermeer - especially those living near (or even below!) the approach routes of Schiphol Airport - can once again cherish hope. The impact of aircraft noise around and in buildings and in outdoor spaces can be reduced by an average of 14 decibels. This is evident from the first results of the research into noise adaptive building that was carried out by the AMS Institute and TU Delft, among others. The 14 decibel reduction is achieved near shielded facades, based on the geometry of the surrounding buildings. In short, a new way of urban design is emerging....

Of course the airport sector has a responsibility: to design quieter aircraft and plan fewer flight movements. But, if one wants to take noise into account in the design of neighborhoods and houses near airports, then there is also profit to be made, as it now appears. At present, the calculation models do not anticipate this when building houses and neighborhoods. However, there are now new insights that help improve the livability of the residential environment around airports.

Lawns and green walls

Martijn Lugten, researcher at AMS Institute and Postdoc at TU Delft says: "Long-term exposure to noise is unpleasant and can lead to psychological and stress-induced illnesses. It is therefore important to better understand the interaction between sound propagation and building design."

Last year, therefore, a Field Lab was set up near Schiphol Airport. The participants are the AMS Institute, TU Delft, the Municipality of Haarlemmermeer (which includes Schiphol), the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the Ministry of the Interior and the Schiphol Living Environment Foundation. Within this lab, research is being done on how to design and build differently. For example, adding lawns and green walls can reduce some of the noise pollution. Together with the effects of trees in streets, this will be looked at more closely in a follow-up study. That follow-up study will also look at aspects such as temperature and air pollution.

Minister Mark Harbers (Infrastructure and Water Management) also responded. "Of course the cabinet wants to pay attention to the quality of the living environment around Schiphol. This new way of designing and constructing buildings, seems to bring serious benefits for residents. We will now have to see how the next step in the research can be taken and hopefully this can be in the form of a neighborhood or environment designed on the basis of noise adaptive building and where people actually live. Hopefully after that, things can be translated to existing residential areas."