The yards and spaces intended for use by residents of a building must be designed and built so that the noise exposure and acoustic conditions in the building and at the yard and yard areas of the site do not compromise the residents’ health, relaxation, or working. Provisions to be considered in the design and construction of the building have been issued in the Land Use and Building Act, the Decree of the Ministry of the Environment on the Acoustic Environment of Buildings, plan regulations and the City of Espoo’s building ordinance, for example.
If the building is in a noise area or sound insulation requirements due to the plan apply to its outer envelope or yard areas, the designer must prepare a sound insulation plan to ensure that the required level of requirements is met. The sound insulation of the building’s outer envelope is affected by, for example, the soundproofing capacity of the external wall and roof construction, supply air vents and the external doors and windows. The yards and spaces intended for use by residents of the building are usually protected by the placement of building masses. Separate noise protection structures, such as noise protection barriers, are used where necessary.
Compliance with the impact and airborne sound insulation requirements between residential rooms in dwellings is achieved by using standard solutions commonly used in building structures. Special planning by an acoustic designer is needed in case of deviations from the standard solutions or spaces in the building where loud, especially disturbing noise or low-frequency sound is produced, such as a gym or a restaurant or a shop. Special acoustical planning is also required to isolate structure-borne noise and vibration when building near railways or speed bumps, for example.