Indoor noise annoyance due to 3-5 megawatt wind turbines-An exposure-response relationship

J Acoust Soc Am. 2017 Oct;142(4):2185. doi: 10.1121/1.5006903.

Abstract

The existing exposure-response relationships describing the association between wind turbine sound level and noise annoyance concern turbine sizes of 0.15-3.0 MW. The main purpose of this study was to determine a relationship concerning turbines with nominal power of 3-5 MW. A cross-sectional survey was conducted around three wind power areas in Finland. The survey involved all households within a 2 km distance from the nearest turbine. Altogether, 429 households out of 753 participated. The households were exposed to wind turbine noise having sound levels within 26.7-44.2 dB LAeq. Standard prediction methods were applied to determine the sound level, LAeq, in each participant's yard. The measured sound level agreed well with the predicted sound level. The exposure-response relationship was derived between LAeq outdoors and the indoor noise annoyance. The relationship was in rather good agreement with two previous studies involving much smaller turbines (0.15-1.5 MW) under 40 dB LAeq. The Community Tolerance Level (CTL), CTL20 = 50 dB, was 3 dB lower than for two previous studies. Above 40 dB, a small number of participants prevented a reliable comparison to previous studies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't