Conference_programme: 13.1 - Noise Barriers / absorbive claddings / diffractive barrier tops

Lecture: Noise barriers: sustainability assessment vs acoustic performance

Author(s): Garai Massimo, Morandi Federica, Brero Giovanni

Summary:
The European regulation 305/2011 (CPR) introduced the “sustainable use of natural resources” as a further basic requirement for construction works. Consequently, in recent calls for tenders for the realisation of noise barriers some requirement on the environmental footprint of the acoustic products have been issued. In general, it is becoming more and more important to specify the environmental impact of the products throughout their lifecycle, from production to waste. The European Group CEN/TC226/WG6/TG4 is working for determining a new standard about guidelines for the environmental impact categories that must be taken into account for these specific products. In this scenario, this work presents a comparative analysis on 16 noise barriers made respectively of wood, aluminum, aluminum and steel, steel, PMMA and glass. The available acoustic data on these panels are compared to the environmental footprint analysed using the impact categories of a type III ecological label according to ISO 14025, namely the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). The results show that the noise barriers having the greater environmental impact not necessarily have the greater acoustic performance. In some cases, higher acoustic performances or a better durability can be obtained introducing additional layers that strongly contribute to the aggravation of the environmental footprint.

Corresponding author

Name: Prof Massimo Garai

e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Country: Italy