Dollars and DB. the cost of conservative acoustics in industrial noise control

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the costs involved in industrial acoustic projects and in particular the additional costs due to conservative acoustic assumptions made at various stages of the project. Industrial noise control projects are typically made up of a number of stakeholders such as; legislators, plant operators, equipment suppliers, acoustical consultants and noise control manufacturers. A typical industrial acoustic project will involve input from each of these stakeholders. All stakeholders have an interest in ensuring that the project, either, does not exceed the legislated limits, meets the specification or simply performs as expected. Commonly, conservative assumptions made by one stakeholder are not communicated to the various other stakeholders leading to compounding conservatism. The process of compounding conservatism and its effect on the final project cost is discussed. This paper uses a number of examples to demonstrate how the cost of a project can escalate due to each additional level of conservatism.