Sound Insulation of seMi-thick PLatEs (SIMPLE)

Noise is a major contributor to health problems in cities, second only to air quality in terms of harms (European Quality of Life Study, 2020). The World Health Organisation conservatively estimated the disability-adjusted life-years lost from environmental noise in western European countries to include: 61,000 years for heart disease; 903,000 years for sleep disturbance, and 654,000 years for annoyance. In the West, around 87% of time is spent indoors, so buildings must insulate occupants from noise to improve health and well-being. The climate emergency is forcing the construction industry to change. In future, many more building elements will be prefabricated in factories using more sustainable materials such as Cross Laminated Timber (CLT). Currently, there are no robust methods to predict acoustic performance, which is holding back the development of CLT partitions. Instead, the acoustic performance of CLT is measured on a case-by-case basis to ensure products satisfy legislative requirements. Such tests are large-scale and involve expensive infrastructure, which can be prohibitive, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises developing new
products. Furthermore, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has caused a reduction or redirection of research and development budgets, meaning that small start-ups face major hurdles to fund innovation. The overarching goal of SIMPLE is to unlock the potential of CLT products for sound insulation by creating a generic approach to design using hybrid methods that combine prediction and measurement. This new approach will reduce development costs, by reducing the extent of acoustic testing, and so improve economic efficiency for manufacturers and the construction industry. Thus, in the long term, SIMPLE will facilitate lower noise levels indoors, improving health and well-being for many people.