Title

Now Hear This! What All Environmental Engineers Should Know About Noise Control

Abstract

Environmental engineers are often called on to deal with noise-related problems. Noise affects health and quality of life for all of us. In summary, noise control should be of interest to environmental engineers for the following key reasons 1. Understanding the fundamentals is within every engineer's grasp and engineers are already familiar with the operating principles of process equipment (e.g., fans, pumps, motors). This gives them an advantage in designing solutions to noise issues or avoiding problems in the first place. 2. Environmental engineers should have a good understanding of noise-related regulations as they may find themselves working in a health and safety role. 3. Understanding the difference between sound pressure level and sound power level is important for all disciplines that may be specifying equipment. Understanding why 85 dB (A) at 3 feet-although a standard specification-is not appropriate in many cases is one example. 4. Since the regulatory framework is fractured, 16 environmental engineers and planners who may eventually be involved in site selection/project development should have a clear understanding of noise when designing or approving projects. 5. It is more effective both in terms of mitigation and cost to address noise early in the design process rather than as a retrofit. If new engineers aren't exposed to this, they won't know how to identify problems before they arise or how to appropriately solve them after they occur. Finally, if environmental engineers aren't concerned with noise control, then who should be?

Publication Date

3-1-2008

Publication Title

EM: Air and Waste Management Association's Magazine for Environmental Managers

Issue

MAR.

Number of Pages

4-7

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

Socpus ID

42449148219 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/42449148219

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