Environmental Noise

Environmental noise is defined by the European Environment Agency as ‘unwanted or harmful outdoor sound created by human activities, including noise emitted by means of transport, road traffic, rail traffic, air traffic, and from sites of industrial activity.’

Controlling noise emissions to the environment from any development – whether it’s industrial, commercial, or residential, is key to managing our shared noise environment.

Here are examples of the work we do in environmental noise:

• Noise surveys and noise impact assessments for planning, including for new developments, new external plant items, and noise emissions from commercial and industrial developments. Often these are carried out in accordance with BS4142 or BS8233.

• Troubleshooting – typically where a factory or venue has received complaints from neighbours or has been asked by the Local Authority or Environment Agency to deal with noise emissions.

• Noise abatement notices – investigating the cause of the abatement notice and developing solutions to solve the issue.

• Environmental permits – we have worked on several anaerobic digestion plants and CO2 facilities to model noise emissions and gain approval from the Environment Agency, or SEPA in Scotland.

• Noise from road and rail – we create computer models of proposed new or modified roads and railways to predict their noise impact and assess the effectiveness of mitigation measures such as barriers and alternative routes.