Page 40 - Winter2014

are marginal below the mandated noise level limits and offer an additional interpretation to identify the respective noise sources.
What we have to think of when we talk about innovation through soundscape
In environmental health impact assessments (airports, rail tracks, roads) only the upper health limits of exposure are addressed. This leads to an attitude in government administra- tion and policy to “fill up” the noise exposure to the maxi- mum allowed.
Therefore, during the last 20 years noise exposure has spread from urban centers to suburban and rural areas and from day to nighttime - thereby reducing the viable options for restora- tion, undisturbed communication, while impairing public health and the environmental “quality of life.”
Due to this unfavorable development recent strategy papers, guidelines and directives have stressed a change in noise policy and administration towards more perception oriented and sustainable assessments, including the protection of quiet and sensitive areas and times.
For example: it was the task of WG-3 of COST Action TD0804 to reconcile and integrate classical and soundscape oriented means (“harmonizing”) and link those with quality of life and health related outcomes, in order to find appropri- ate strategies at different scales of assessment and implementa- tion (Lercher and Schulte-Fortkamp, 2013).
There is still a lack of willingness and often ignorance among policy makers to use soundscape techniques in noise action plans and for the protection of quiet areas. Funding agencies still hesitate to fund soundscape projects.
The situation differs, however, broadly from country to country:
‘Trying to do the right thing, play it straight, the right thing changes from state to state’
(Soul Asylum – Leave without a trace, 1992)
“Trying to do the right thing, play it straight, the right thing changes from state to state.”
Soul Asylum – Leave without a trace, 1992
In order to take the full advantage of the benefits of the soundscape approach, it has to be accepted that:
• the involvement of different disciplines is needed to identify
the resources in human and physical terms;
• soundscape research is the appropriate platform for further
development in standards for improvement of the ecology and economy, as well as for noise policy-standards concern- ing the enhancement of quality of life;
• there is the need to link public Quality of Life and Health to Soundscape;
• there is the urgent need for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Working Group 54 of ISO / TC 43 / SC 1 to reach consensus on the soundscape defini- tion standard ISO/DIS 12913-1, to provide the necessary stimulus for further worldwide progress.
Architectural Design Implications
The soundscape methods described above may be easily transferred to the fields of architectural and urban design, for projects which include building interior and exterior spaces, site planning, urban and transportation planning, public parks, and more (Brambilla and Maffei, 2010). The sound- scape method can be most effectively used to address acousti- cal concerns as early as possible in the architectural design process, even in the inspiration (vision) phase of a project.
Sonic perceptions of the built environment are often a vital part of the vision for a project, and must be expressed at
the outset to be fully incorporated in the design. In this approach, design inputs are solicited from all stakeholders and design team members very early, before programming. Innovative project delivery methods and contract structures such as IPD (Integrated Project Delivery), unlike the tradi- tional design-bid-build method, assign shared risk and reward among the design, construction and management teams. This offers great opportunities for practitioners, through sound- scaping, to include acoustics in the initial project discussions, and to advance the implementation of quality sonic environ- ments.
38 | Acoustics Today | Winter 2014