Abstract
Recently both Australia and New Zealand have felt the need to revise the noise control sections of their building codes. The focus for these codes is the protection of the quality of domestic environments in high density living conditions because of the increasing numbers of people choosing – or being forced into – city living. The success of these revisions depends on the appropriateness of the metrics used for the building insulation performance, the dependability of the way we make and use the measurements and any remaining uncertainties or omissions from the codes. The issues will be reviewed from a New Zealand perspective including –(i) the need for greater recognition of noise sensitivity, privacy sensitivity and social responsibility with respect to noisy behaviour and the use of loudspeakers, (ii) the relationship of measurements to the subjective assessment of building performance, and (iii) recent research on new techniques for conducting field measurements.