Sustainable Innovations for Long-life Environmental Noise Technologies

Introduction

The main scope of this proposal is the development of sustainable and eco-friendly solutions to mitigate noise in complex urban environments, where multiple and diverse noise sources, mainly roads and railways, coexist across densely populated areas.

Targeted Solutions

Low noise pavements and low-height noise barriers are the main targeted solutions, to be upgraded and revisited in order to abate their costs (LCC) and improve their sustainability. To that end, recycled materials (e.g., textiles, papers, cardboard) will be used.

Importance of Noise Reduction

The need to reduce noise levels in outdoor urban areas is imperative since, according to the World Health Organization, 20% of the European population is exposed to noise levels exceeding 65 dB(A) during the day, whereas the maximum recommended level is 55 dB(A).

Challenges in Noise Mitigation

Mitigating noise in such environments generally excludes the use of solutions that might interfere with the urban context, such as noise barriers, for many reasons:

1. The proximity of receivers to the noise source, typically roads.
2. The visual impact: noise barriers reduce the visibility of the surroundings and air circulation, causing local temperature rise (especially in summer) and social denial.

This is why noise mitigation measures acting directly on the source are recommended, such as low noise pavements and traffic calming for roads, dampers, rail grinding, and silent brakes for railways.

Limitations of Current Solutions

However, these solutions have been proven to be poorly effective over time and consequently quite expensive.

Proposed Innovations

In this proposal, innovative and sustainable low noise pavements and low height noise barriers will be developed and demonstrated in real test sites, to provide transport owners and managers solid information to support their widespread use.

Implementation and Standardization

To that end, the proposal includes also the preparation of special procedures to manage their implementation in complex urban scenarios, as well as tools to standardize their characterization and plans to prepare their launch to the market.