Facade Sound Insulation as Protection to Outdoor Noise

In recent years the acoustic qualification of buildings has gained more and more importance at international level. One of the central elements for determining the sound quality of houses is the insulation against external noise. In fact, many issues related to excessive noise in dwellings arise from their inclusion in noisy environments, or from their original surrounding environment, which has grown from silent to very noisy over the years. The main strategy to limit the noise inside the buildings is the façade insulation improvement. Regulatory requirements and classification schemes in Europe present a high degree of diversity. In particular, the approach to the façade insulation acoustic requirement adopted is very different in the various countries also because it is closely related to the outdoor environmental noise. The main issues related to the façade sound insulation are investigated with particular focus to the choice of the descriptors, the evaluation methods and their reproducibility. The latter aspect is the more difficult to evaluate.