There is a famous song by singer-songwriter duo Simon & Garfunkel , " Sound of Silence". It is one of the song which I liked most & perfectly fit in India's metro city life right now.
But can we achieve absolute silence in a Home ! Can we control outside noise level & feel Himalayan abode in our Home ? yes it is possible... We did it many times..sharing one case study.... Residence @ Unitech South City II, Golf Course Road, Gurgaon. In my previous post, I have shared sound terminologies & ill effects of noise.
There are different standards & Indexes to measure noise levels.. I being associated with a German MNC always like to follow DIN ( German ) norms which are safest & highest in Quality.
After visiting the site, I realized that it was quite terrible situation as noise levels @ that House was around 60-65 dB during day time & also in the night, it was 70-75 dB with existing aluminium doors & windows.
Town planners, Builders & Developers are not thinking about reducing noise levels in the city & in the apartments as there is no vision for
- Regularly review the City Plan rules relating to acceptable levels of noise.
- To ensure the quality service is provided for enforcement, response & complaints.
- To develop the noise map of Delhi NCR and monitor trends over time.
- To develop a system that identifies areas of concern. e.g. residential areas which are near motorways and other road network.
Now come back to our story, the challenges for us were-
- Removal of existing Doors/Windows - As family was residing their, We need to complete the house same day as they can not keep their house remains open in the night.
- Fitting of New Doors/ Windows with Joint insulation- It is prevalent industry practice to use silicone for joint insulation between wall & frame. But silicon is not fixing material. For proper noise insulation, one needs to use PU Fom. ( Rw ; 61 dB )
" Listen to yourself not the noise of the world, only you know what is right for you."
Removal of existing Aluminium Door/Window via cutter |
Sound level outside |
Sound level inside after installation |
Sound level inside after installation |
Noise level outside road side |
Before Aluminium Window |
After installation window |