TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of green walls as a passive acoustic insulation system for buildings
AU - Azkorra, Z.
AU - Pérez, G.
AU - Coma, J.
AU - Cabeza, L. F.
AU - Bures, S.
AU - Álvaro, J. E.
AU - Erkoreka, A.
AU - Urrestarazu, M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the FEDER of the European Union for financial support via the project “G-GI3000/IDIX SILENTVEG: Barreras vegetales autónomas y sostenibles para la mitigación acústica y compensación del CO 2 en vías de transporte, con seguimiento telemático ” of the “ Programa Operativo FEDER de Andalucía 2007-2013 ”.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2015/3
Y1 - 2015/3
N2 - Greenery on buildings is being consolidated as an interesting way to improve the quality of life in urban environments. Among the benefits that are associated with greenery systems for buildings, such as energy savings, biodiversity support, and storm-water control, there is also noise attenuation. Despite the fact that green walls are one of the most promising building greenery systems, few studies of their sound insulation potential have been conducted. In addition, there are different types of green walls; therefore, available data for this purpose are not only sparse but also scattered. To gather knowledge about the contribution of vertical greenery systems to noise reduction, especially a modular-based green wall, two different standardised laboratory tests were conducted. The main results were a weighted sound reduction index (Rw) of 15 dB and a weighted sound absorption coefficient (α) of 0.40. It could be concluded that green walls have significant potential as a sound insulation tool for buildings but that some design adjustments should be performed, such as improving the efficiency of sealing the joints between the modular pieces.
AB - Greenery on buildings is being consolidated as an interesting way to improve the quality of life in urban environments. Among the benefits that are associated with greenery systems for buildings, such as energy savings, biodiversity support, and storm-water control, there is also noise attenuation. Despite the fact that green walls are one of the most promising building greenery systems, few studies of their sound insulation potential have been conducted. In addition, there are different types of green walls; therefore, available data for this purpose are not only sparse but also scattered. To gather knowledge about the contribution of vertical greenery systems to noise reduction, especially a modular-based green wall, two different standardised laboratory tests were conducted. The main results were a weighted sound reduction index (Rw) of 15 dB and a weighted sound absorption coefficient (α) of 0.40. It could be concluded that green walls have significant potential as a sound insulation tool for buildings but that some design adjustments should be performed, such as improving the efficiency of sealing the joints between the modular pieces.
KW - Acoustic insulation
KW - Airborne sound insulation
KW - Hydroponic systems
KW - Noise reduction
KW - Sound absorption coefficient
KW - Vertical greenery systems
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84907703246&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.apacoust.2014.09.010
DO - 10.1016/j.apacoust.2014.09.010
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84907703246
VL - 89
SP - 46
EP - 56
JO - Applied Acoustics
JF - Applied Acoustics
SN - 0003-682X
ER -