A case study for implementation of the classification scheme introduced in the new sound insulation regulation in Turkey

Abstract

The "Regulation on Protection of Buildings against Noise" issued by the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, in May 2017, aims to organize the requirements and enforcements for noise control in buildings. The regulation introduces a classification scheme to rate acoustic performances of buildings based on the EU/COST TU 0901 project and ISO-CD19488, and the verification tests in order to obtain "Acoustic Performance Certificate" which is a legal document authenticating the acoustical quality of the building. As an application of the regulation, a residential building was selected for the case study and the airborne sound insulation of partitions and façades, impact sound insulation of floors, reverberation times of common areas and indoor background noise levels were measured to evaluate the acoustic performance of the building and to determine its acoustic class. Based on the results, the applicability of the limit values given in the regulation could be checked. In the study, a pilot social survey was conducted to investigate the responses of the residents against variety of indoor and outdoor noises. The preliminary results have supported that Class C, which is also a requirement for new buildings in the regulation, was satisfactory for most of the residents in the building. © 2017 Institute of Noise Control Engineering. All rights reserved.