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Enhanced acoustical performance - exterior noise control

LEED CREDIT

Pilot-Credits EQpc57: Enhanced acoustical performance - exterior noise control 1 point

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LEEDuser expert

Batya Metalitz

USGBC
Technical Director, LEED

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Post your questions on this credit in the forum, and click on the credit language tab to review to the LEED requirements.

Credit language

USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

  • Conduct a site noise assessment. Perform qualitative assessments of nearby noise sources and noise-sensitive receivers, and/or a quantitative measurement of site noise in at least one location for at least 24-hours.
  • Design and locate exterior noise sources1 so that the following project noise levels are not exceeded at the project boundary:
    • For boundaries adjacent to residential buildings:
      • Maximum exterior noise level (Lmax) does not exceed existing ambient levels, and does not exceed 60 dBA
      • Average exterior noise level (Leq, 8h) of 45 dBA
    • For boundaries not adjacent to residential buildings:
      • Outdoor Day-Night Equivalent Level (Ldn) or Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL) of 60 dBA
  • Additionally, for residential projects, do not exceed the following noise levels in bedrooms:
    • maximum interior noise level (Lmax) of 45 dBA
    • average interior noise level (Leq, 8h) of 30 dBA.
1 Noise sources’ are elements that may contribute to the resultant environmental noise levels that are within the purview of the project design team and site boundary. Noise sources may include building equipment (mounted on the rooftop, inside building but exterior venting, or located at grade), transformers, traffic associated with the building, and other sources. Emergency equipment (e.g. generators) do not need to meet these noise requirements, however, an operations plan must be included to describe their schedule for periodic testing.

General Pilot Documentation Requirements

Register for the pilot credit Credits 1-14 Credits 15-27 Credits 28-42 Credits 43-56 Credits 57-67 Credits 68-82 Credits 83--96

Submittals/Documentation

  • Narrative describing the site noise assessment conducted. Describe the boundary types (whether boundaries are adjacent to residential buildings) and for boundaries adjacent to residential buildings, include the existing ambient levels and explain how this level was determined.
  • Calculations or measurements for noise levels, including description of noise sources included in the analysis.
  • Operations plan for testing of emergency equipment, describing the reason a particular time of day was chosen for testing.

Changes

  • Changes made 6/4/2015: The credit intent has been revised to better reflect the purpose of the credit. The exterior noise criteria have been revised to align with existing community noise guidelines The requirements have been revised to separately address noise concerns for residential buildings, including a new requirement for noise levels in bedrooms.
See all forum discussions about this credit »

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Cost estimates for this credit

On each BD+C v4 credit, LEEDuser offers the wisdom of a team of architects, engineers, cost estimators, and LEED experts with hundreds of LEED projects between then. They analyzed the sustainable design strategies associated with each LEED credit, but also to assign actual costs to those strategies.

Our tab contains overall cost guidance, notes on what “soft costs” to expect, and a strategy-by-strategy breakdown of what to consider and what it might cost, in percentage premiums, actual costs, or both.

This information is also available in a full PDF download in The Cost of LEED v4 report.

Learn more about The Cost of LEED v4 »

Documentation toolkit

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LEEDuser’s Documentation Toolkit is loaded with calculators to help assess credit compliance, tracking spreadsheets for materials, sample templates to help guide your narratives and LEED Online submissions, and examples of actual submissions from certified LEED projects for you to check your work against. To get your plaque, start with the right toolkit.

LEEDuser expert

Batya Metalitz

USGBC
Technical Director, LEED

USGBC logo

© Copyright U.S. Green Building Council, Inc. All rights reserved.

Requirements

  • Conduct a site noise assessment. Perform qualitative assessments of nearby noise sources and noise-sensitive receivers, and/or a quantitative measurement of site noise in at least one location for at least 24-hours.
  • Design and locate exterior noise sources1 so that the following project noise levels are not exceeded at the project boundary:
    • For boundaries adjacent to residential buildings:
      • Maximum exterior noise level (Lmax) does not exceed existing ambient levels, and does not exceed 60 dBA
      • Average exterior noise level (Leq, 8h) of 45 dBA
    • For boundaries not adjacent to residential buildings:
      • Outdoor Day-Night Equivalent Level (Ldn) or Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL) of 60 dBA
  • Additionally, for residential projects, do not exceed the following noise levels in bedrooms:
    • maximum interior noise level (Lmax) of 45 dBA
    • average interior noise level (Leq, 8h) of 30 dBA.
1 Noise sources’ are elements that may contribute to the resultant environmental noise levels that are within the purview of the project design team and site boundary. Noise sources may include building equipment (mounted on the rooftop, inside building but exterior venting, or located at grade), transformers, traffic associated with the building, and other sources. Emergency equipment (e.g. generators) do not need to meet these noise requirements, however, an operations plan must be included to describe their schedule for periodic testing.

General Pilot Documentation Requirements

Register for the pilot credit Credits 1-14 Credits 15-27 Credits 28-42 Credits 43-56 Credits 57-67 Credits 68-82 Credits 83--96

Submittals/Documentation

  • Narrative describing the site noise assessment conducted. Describe the boundary types (whether boundaries are adjacent to residential buildings) and for boundaries adjacent to residential buildings, include the existing ambient levels and explain how this level was determined.
  • Calculations or measurements for noise levels, including description of noise sources included in the analysis.
  • Operations plan for testing of emergency equipment, describing the reason a particular time of day was chosen for testing.

Changes

  • Changes made 6/4/2015: The credit intent has been revised to better reflect the purpose of the credit. The exterior noise criteria have been revised to align with existing community noise guidelines The requirements have been revised to separately address noise concerns for residential buildings, including a new requirement for noise levels in bedrooms.

LEEDuser expert

Batya Metalitz

USGBC
Technical Director, LEED

See all LEEDuser forum discussions about this credit » Subscribe to new discussions about Pilot-Credits EQpc57