The purpose of this degree project is to investigate noise problems for residential areas close to roads with very intense traffic. The area Lilla Essingen in Stockholm has been investigated and most focus is on noise measurements outdoors and different measures for noise reduction in the area. Sound measurements are the basis for this work, but calculations have been made to obtain the 24-hour equivalent sound level and maximum sound level for the different measurement points. Interviews are also an important part of this work, where the sales market for apartments located closest to the road is discussed with various brokers from different companies in the area. Furthermore, the harmful health effects that are obtained due to high noise levels, various measures for reducing noise impact and the different measured values ​​at different times during the day are discussed. The own measured and recalculated 24-hour equivalent noise levels from Lilla Essingen are compared with guideline values from both WHO and Stockholm City in order to better understand the importance of the actual noise within this residential area. Sleep disorders, reduced concentration, stress and hearing damage are the most common effects caused by noise and research has shown that noise also has a connection with cardiovascular diseases. Children are most affected by noise; it can affect their learning development and lead to less concentration compared to the other children who are not exposed to equally high sound levels. The own measurement values ​​have shown that sound levels differ during different times of the day and with different distances from the road. The sound is at its highest in the morning where traffic flow is high, but according to the measurements it has shown that the sound levels are always high next to the road even during the evening / night.   Keywords: Noise, noise impact, motorway, guide values, equivalent sound level, maximum sound level, noise reduction, traffic, quiet side / inte

The public interest in central living in today’s cities has led to an increasing effect of traffic noise pollution, and today 20% of the inhabitants in Sweden suffer from noise a level that exceeds the limits. At the same time the traffic keeps increasing, and recent researches shows that traffic noise pollution and several of today’s most common health issues are connected, for example, reduction of performance, sleeping issues and cardiovascular diseases. For this cause rules, guidelines and environmental goals has been developed, as well as software’s which calculates the levels of pollution, all this to investigate and improve the environment. The guidelines say that the average sound pressure level shouldn’t exceed 55 dBA over 24 hours of the façade, and the maximum level shouldn’t exceed 70 dBA. Today’s issue is that the guidelines isn’t legally binding and therefore they don’t have to be fully achieved which can led to confusion and unfair interpretations in the matter of a building can or cannot be built according to the limits of traffic noise pollution.   The intensions of this report are to improve the urban environment regarding traffic noise pollution and to increase the understanding and knowledge how this issue affects urban areas. The report will also investigate and compare two different calculation methods for traffic noise pollution, the Nordic propagation method and the Nord 2000.   On this basis a literature survey has been done regarding the noise pollution issues in our cities with its rules, guidelines, objective goals, measures and the two different calculation methods. Investigations of different shapes of a building has been done in combination with the software for calculation of road traffic noise Soundplan, and a case study of a site which is located in the centre of Jönköping. The workflow has been reversed from the “normal”, were the building were designed after the limits of the noise levels were investigated. This resulted in a residential proposal which is optimized from a traffic noise point of view, and uses its own body as a shield. The condoles are directed away from the source of noise and the parking space are placed towards the roads. The final result has been analysed with both of the calculation methods, were a slightly differentiation between the methods can be seen. This is causes by the way the calculation methods deal with information and the differentiation in the calculation methods.   The conclusions from this report are that the traffic noise pollution is one of our major health issues which still are increasing. The main problem in this is that there’s several unmeasurable parameters which influences the way an individual experiences the sound environment, which contributes to the difficulty to establish a proper regulations and standards. Regarding the calculation methods there is issues to use Nord 2000, because the method requires large amounts of information which can be difficult to access. At the same time the Nordic propagation method can show incorrectly results because it hasn’t the same ability to adapt to the specific conditions at each location.

This degree project illustrates today's noise problems caused by high-speed highways.  The area that has been studied is Kopparlunden along the E18, in Västerås which reflects a long and unique industrial history from the late 1800's. In the current situation  the municipality of Västerås is doing a transformation of the existing industry into a modern residential area with the  new homes, workplaces and services. The purpose of the work is to identify noise and study traffic-related noise problems in this area, partly to check the result of noise values ​​against the requirements, and to propose noise reduction measures. This work is based on own noise measurements and calculations as well as on the study of a couple of relevant reference objects. The result of own noise  measurement and calculations at all four points was about 60 – 63 dBA equivalent on two meter high over ground and about 61 – 67 dBA at five meters high over ground. This means that the measured values exceed the guideline values of approximately 8 dBA at two meters height and 12 dBA at 5 meters height according to BBR. For satisfactory sound levels to be obtained in Kopparlunden, several solutions need to be implemented such as an evacuation corridor between facades and apartments, increased distances between buildings and the noise source, noise screen and well proper placement and design of buildings. / Samhällsbyggnadsteknik

Syfte: När städerna växer i allt snabbare takt behövs nya platser att bygga bostäder på. De kommuner som växer väljer allt oftare att bebygga platser som tidigare ratats på grund av bland annat buller. Från statens sida finns det krav på hur stor bullernivån får vara. Kraven har sitt ursprung i att över två miljoner svenskar utsätts för buller dagligen. Buller kan leda till hälsoproblematik, i form av sömnstörningar och hjärt- och kärlsjukdomar. För att minska hälsoproblemen görs bullerutredningar, där förslag hur bullernivåerna kan minskas ges. Syftet med arbetet är att ge läsaren kunskap i vilka faktorer som påverkar bullerutredningar och tillvägagångssättet vid valet av bullerreducerande åtgärder så att byggnation närmare trafikerad väg kan möjliggöras. Metod: De metoder som använts i arbetet är litteraturstudie, dokumentanalys och intervjuer. Den litteratur som samlats in består av vetenskapliga artiklar. Dokumenten består av bullerutredningar genomförda av olika företag på olika platser i Sverige. Utifrån bullerutredningarna har personer att intervjua valts. De personer som intervjuats har utfört några av de bullerutredningar som använts i dokumentanalysen. Resultat: För att besvara rapportens syfte ställdes tre frågeställningar upp. Den första frågeställningen behandlar bullerreducerande tekniker, vilka tekniker som används idag. I rapporten framkom det att det finns ett flertal sätt att reducera buller. I följande ordning rangordnas de som mest frekvent använda: tyst sida, bullerskärm, hastighetsminskning, avstånd mellan hus och väg, vegetation, flytt av väg och tyst asfalt. I rapportens andra frågeställning behandlas vilka faktorer som påverkar valet av bullerreducerande åtgärd. Från litteraturstudien framkom absorption, reflektion och reduktion som viktiga faktorer. I dokumentanalysen framkom omgivning, trafik och hastighet som viktiga faktorer. I intervjuerna framkom estetik och pris som viktiga vid val av reducerande åtgärd. I den tredje frågeställningen behandlas frågan om hur byggnation närmare väg kan möjliggöras. I resultatet framkommer det att alla lösningar som tidigare nämnts har förmåga att reducera buller, men hur effektiva de är och hur bra de reducerar buller varierar från fall till fall. Omgivning och trafikmängd har stor betydelse. Konsekvenser: Att utnyttja de tekniska lösningar som tidigare beskrivits ger en minskad bullernivå och således kan byggnation nära trafikerad väg möjliggöras. Att utföra en bullerutredning i ett tidigt skede medför att senare och dyrare ändringar kan undvikas, vilket gör att byggnationen kan ske snabbare. Rapporten föreslår att bullerproblematiken ska beaktas tidigt i projekt, detta för att skapa en lösning som alla i projektet kan acceptera. Begränsningar: Rapportens resultat är begränsat till ett mindre urval av bullerutredningar och intervjuer. Fler utredningar och intervjuer hade bidragit till ett större spektrum. Rapporten tar enbart hänsyn till buller utomhus och vilka möjligheter till bullerreduktion det finns. / Purpose: When cities grow at a faster rate, new places are needed to build housing.The municipalities that are growing tends to choose build sites that previously wererejected due to noise pollution. There are requirements from the state that the noise maynot exceed certain values. The requirements originate from the fact that over twomillion swedes are exposed to noise daily. Noise can lead to health problems, in theform of sleep disorders and cardiovascular disease. To reduce health problems noiseinvestigations are made, where suggestions are made in how noise levels can bereduced. The purpose of the work is to provide the reader with knowledge of whichfactors influence noise investigations and the approach to the choice of noise reductionmeasures so that construction can be made closer to trafficked roads. Method: The methods used are literature studies, document analysis and interviews.The literature gathered consists of scientific articles. The documents consist of noiseinvestigations conducted by different companies all over Sweden. Persons to interviewwere chosen from the conductors of the noise investigations documents. Findings: To answer the report's purpose, three questions were raised. The firstquestion deals with noise-reducing technologies and which technologies are used today.The report found that there are several ways to reduce noise. In the following order, themost frequently used are: silent facade, noise screen, speed reduction, distance betweenhouse and roads, vegetation, road moving and quiet asphalt. The second question of thereport addresses the factors that influence the choice of noise reduction measure. Fromthe literature study, absorption, reflection and reduction were found to be importantfactors. In the document analysis, surroundings, traffic and speed emerged as importantfactors. In the interviews, aesthetics and price emerged as important in the choice ofwhich reducing action should be taken. The third question deals with the question ofhow construction can be made closer to the road. In the result it appears that all of thesolutions mentioned earlier have the ability to reduce noise, but how effective they areand how well they reduce noise varies from case to case. Surroundings and trafficvolume are of great importance. Implications: Making use of the technical solutions previously described, results in areduced noise level and there for construction near road can be made possible.Executing a noise investigation at an early stage means that later and more expensivechanges can be avoided, which means that construction can take place sooner. Thereport suggests therefore that noise issues should be considered early in projects. It isalso important to get a solution that everyone can accept. Limitations: The report's results are limited to a smaller selection of noiseinvestigations and interviews. More investigations and interviews could hadcontributed to a larger spectrum. The report does only consider noise outdoors and whatopportunities for noise reduction there are.