Noise Requirements in Existing Buildings in Spain: New Proposals and the Existing Building Evaluation Report
Invited paper
Instituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja. IETcc
Wednesday 3 june, 2015, 11:00 - 11:20
Auditorium 2 (592)
Abstract:
In Spain there are approximately 25 million dwellings, 53% of them were built
before 1980, which means they were built before any acoustic or thermal
requirements were mandatory. Part DB HR Protection against noise of the
Spanish Building Code approved in 2009, applies only to new buildings and
massive restorations, but given the current situation of the Spanish
construction industry, which is still experiencing a drop in the production of
new dwellings, the Infrastructure Ministry is trying to promote the
retrofitting of the existing building stock with the approval of different
laws.
The new proposed amendments in the DB HR include a new scope for works in
existing buildings and criteria to define which cases the requirements must
apply to.
In addition, there are other initiatives in process: recently part IV
“Acoustics” of the Existing Building Evaluation Report (IEE) has been
published. This report is mandatory in the case of 50-year-old multifamily
buildings and buildings which are being retrofitted with public funds. The IEE
assesses the conservation status, energy performance, accessibility and
acoustic performance of a building. Although part IV “Acoustics” is undertaken
on a voluntary basis, the report is an opportunity to rate and improve the
acoustic performance of existing buildings.
This paper shows the proposed changes in the Spanish acoustic regulation, the
new IEE report and it will also show an example of an acoustically retrofitted
building.