What the Pandemic Taught Us About Acoustic Well-Being
04/23/2021
Loud conference calls, arguing children, home schooling, noisy TVs, barking dogs, shouting neighbors, noisy appliances, and non-stop delivery trucks. One thing we’ve learned is that peace and quiet is not easy to find during a pandemic. But other than being bothersome, can noise be harmful to your health?
Pre-COVID-19 conditions, we had more opportunities to avoid noise. Most of us left our homes during the day for work and school. Now that everyone is at home together, we are acutely aware of noise. This is especially true for those in urban areas and those living in apartments with neighbors who are also home all the time.
As a result, many homeowners are looking for ways to improve their home acoustics and subsequent comfort.
The Invisible Danger of Noise Pollution
While you may think noise is just an “annoyance,” noise pollution can increase stress and have real negative effects on your health and wellbeing. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that excessive noise seriously damages health, including:
- Disturbed sleep
- Increased stress
- Decreased performance at school or work
- High blood pressure
- Heart disease
The fact that you can’t see, taste or smell noise may help explain why noise pollution has not received as much attention as air pollution or water pollution. But this invisible danger is affecting millions of Americans who suffer from a range of adverse health outcomes and may not even know noise is the cause.
How Loud is Too Loud?
Sound is measured in units called decibels (dB). The following is a table of the decibel level of a number of sounds.
Decibel Levels
| Sound | Decibel levels |
| Whisper, leaves rustling | 30 dB |
| Normal conversation, background music | 60 dB |
| Office noise, inside car at 60 mph | 70 dB |
| Vacuum cleaner | 75 dB |
| Lawn mower, noisy restaurant | 90 dB |
| Motorcycle, school dance | 100 dB |
| Rock concert, sports crowd | 120 dB |
| Gun shot, siren at 100 feet | 140 dB |
Noise above 70 dB over a prolonged period of time may start to damage your hearing. Loud noise above 120 dB can cause immediate harm to your ears.
Productivity Plummets When It’s Noisy
Noise distracts and disrupts, making it harder to listen, focus, work, and learn. Noisy, open-floor plan offices were found to reduce productivity by a whopping 66 percent. Similarly, noise has detrimental effects on children’s performance at school, where the average noise level was found to be 72 decibels in classrooms— almost vacuum cleaner level. How noise has affected us at home during the pandemic has yet to be assessed.
Sound Insulation Solutions
Insulation plays a vital role in absorbing unwanted noise. With the right insulation you can lessen the impact of noise pollution and enjoy a more peaceful home life.
High-level sound insulation is no longer just for hotels, cinemas or theatres, it is available for our homes. The fiberglass structure of Knauf Insulation is highly effective at absorbing sound and it is available in a variety of thicknesses and R-values. Adding insulation between your walls and ceilings goes a long way to minimizing room-to-room sound transmission. Ideally, this is done when the house is being built or remodeled. For existing walls that aren’t uncovered, you can use blown-in insulation to achieve desired results.
HVAC systems that are not insulated often act like a trumpet, amplifying noise through a maze of metal pipework. Adding sound control insulation around ducts will help reduce unwanted noise transfer.
To Sum Up
If the past year has taught us the importance of acoustics, we have also learned that there is no need to accept buildings that are potentially taking a toll on our health. Whatever happens in a post-pandemic world, we should take a systematic approach to building acoustics for the good of our health. We all deserve a little peace and quiet.
Sources
https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/clean-air-act-title-iv-noise-pollution
https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-topics/tf4173