Your dream home but not your dream location. Whether building, buying or considering staying a peaceful surrounding is essential to home-owners.

“I found the perfect lot of land to build on but the area has a construction site in close proximity”

“That house was beautiful but next door was too loud”

“After some years my neighborhood has become increasingly noisy”



Well the correct term for your problem is noise pollution! Noise pollution can be defined as unwanted or undesirable sounds that affect one’s day-to-day living or quality of life.

Noise Pollution Effects

Noise pollution can negatively impact the body in significant ways, including elevated blood pressure, impaired cognitive functioning, cardiovascular and psycho-physiological effects, cause heart attacks, reduce performance, provoke annoyance responses and changes in social behavior and other effects of chronic stress.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency of United States, approximately 5 million children suffer from Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL).

Noise Pollution Solutions.

1. Start looking critically at your home first. Before talking to your neighbors, reflect on your home practices.

2. Soundproof your home. Discuss with your designer the different options to block noise from entering your home such as, soundproof doors, windows, flooring and building materials that can absorb noise.



3. Decorate your home with rugs, carpets and install draperies that are sound absorbing and sound blocking depending on their material.



4. Landscape should be your best friend. According to the USDA National Agroforestry Center, planting is key. “Planting “noise buffers” composed of trees and shrubs can reduce noise five to ten decibels (reduces noise approximately 50% to the human ear). To achieve this effect, the species and the planting design must be chosen carefully.



5. Add a focal piece to your landscape with a fountain, which will add beauty and some nice white noise.

References

Noise Pollution Solutions. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/noise-pollution-solutions.html

Quiet, Please! How To Cut Noise Pollution At Home – Forbes. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/houzz/2013/09/09/quiet-please-how-to-cut-noise-pollution-at-home/

Reduce Noise Pollution. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.everythingconnects.org/reduce-noise-pollution.html