Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton

Knowledge and understanding
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The basic requirements for environmental noise assessment including an understanding of the possible differences between regulatory and subjective approaches, as based on existing scientific knowledge.
• The relevance of environmental noise to sustainable development in the context of environmental impact assessment.
• Existing standards and regulations.
• General procedures additional to specific instructions defined in existing standards and regulations.

Cognitive (thinking) skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:

• Understand and critically interpret the literature relating to the specific subject area.
• Comment on the practical relevance and effectiveness of current technical approaches to environmental noise assessment as defined in current standards and regulations.
• Anticipate future developments in the light of existing technical and practical deficiencies.

Practical, subject specific skills
Having sucessfully completed the module, you will be able to:

• Apply existing standards and regulations competently.
• Comment on the extent to which current standards and regulations reflect the most up-to-date scientific, social and political thinking in these areas.
• Contribute to on-going scientific and technical debate in these areas.

Key transferable skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be better able to:

• Tackle and then solve real issues arising in actual environmental noise assessment cases.

  Module Details

  Title: Environmental and Transportation Noise
  Code: ISVR3013
  Year: Acoustical Engineering, Acoustics and Music Part 3
  Semester: Semester 2
  

  CATS points: 10 CAT points (= 100 hours) ECTS points: NaN
  Level: Undergraduate
  Co-ordinator(s): Dr Ian Flindell

  Pre-requisites and / or co-requisites

  None

The aims of this module are to:

• Provide both the theoretical and practical background necessary to enable students to approach with confidence assessment, planning and control for environmental and transportation noise management purposes.

• To introduce the students to the historical and theoretical background to the alternative approaches to environmental noise assessment available under present-day conditions.
• To cover the specific environmental noise assessment procedures and methodologies currently adopted in the UK, including relevant international standards and European Directives.
• To illustrate the practical connections that exist between acoustical engineering and the effects of environmental noise on people.

Political and scientific background, key players (UK DEFRA and DfT, EC, WHO, ISO, etc).
Monetary valuation of noise
Environmental noise and sustainable development
Environmental Impact Assessment - the role of public inquiries in the UK
Human effects - WHO guidelines for community noise

• speech masking
• activity interference
• noise and sleep
• noise and non-auditory health
• noise annoyance
  

Noise mapping - demonstration and comparison against physical propagation models
Current standards and regulations

• ISO 9613
• UK Calculation of Road Traffic Noise
• UK Calculation of Railway Noise
• Aircaft noise prediction
• Current legal framework - relevant Acts of Parliament
• PPG24 - Planning and Noise
• MPG11 - Minerals sites
• PPG22 - renewable energy
• Highways assessment - operation and construction
• BS 4142
• BS 5228
• BS 7445

EU noise policy - Environmental Noise Directive
Noise management in practice - generic procedures

Additional written notes are provided (but not taught) on relevant acoustical theories and explanations (noise level indicators, measurement procedures, auditory capabilities, etc).

Whole class lectures to present the course content and to discuss any matters arising from private study (completing course-work assignments).

Core text

Copies of current standards, regulations and other documents relevant to each coursework assignment are provided with the assignments, together with written notes summarising the relevant theoretical background. Additional materials can also be downloaded from various web-sites, the precise addresses of which vary from one year to the next and are therefore provided with the course notes., ,