AS 2021-1994

Provides guidance on the location and construction of new buildings and on the acoustical adequacy of existing buildings in areas near aerodromes. Particular emphasis is placed on determining the acceptability of spaces within buildings for specific activities in the presence of aircraft noise, and the type of construction that may be required to make such spaces acceptable. It also includes guidelines for the assessment of potential aircraft noise exposure at a given site based on the Australian Noise Exposure Forecast (ANEF) System.

This Standard, together with the most appropriate Australian Noise Exposure Forecast (ANEF) chart or locality map available for the aerodrome under consideration, provides guidelines for determining-(a) whether the extent of aircraft noise intrusion makes building sites 'acceptable', 'unacceptable' or 'conditionally acceptable' for the activities to be, or being, undertaken (Clause 2.3);(b) for 'conditionally acceptable' sites, the extent of noise reduction required to provide acceptable noise levels indoors for the types of activity to be, or being, undertaken; and(c) the type of building construction necessary to provide a given noise reduction, provided that windows and doors are closed (see Note 1).The acceptability of outdoor space is not covered by this Standard.NOTES:The recommendations for building construction are based on the assumption that windows and doors are shut. If windows or doors are opened for ventilation or other purposes, the noise attenuation values for various components given in Clause 3.3 will not be achieved. Item (c) above implies that mechanical ventilation may need to be installed when windows and doors are shut to provide adequate protection against aircraft noise intrusion. Whether or not sufficient ventilation can be achieved by mechanical or other means should be considered before the selection of building components described in Clause 3.3.In certain circumstances it may be proposed to construct or upgrade buildings on sites that could be classified as unacceptable, e.g. a hotel in the immediate vicinity of an aerodrome. Land use decisions and development approvals in these cases should be made on the basis of specialist acoustic advice. Appropriate precautions should be taken to ensure that future operations and development of the aerodrome are not constrained by such decisions.There may be a significant increase in costs incurred in buildings designed to provide higher than normal noise attenuation for their type. In applying these guidelines specialist acoustic advice should be sought on the most cost effective degree of noise attenuation.The publications listed in Appendix A contain further reading related to this Standard.

First published as AS 2021-1977.
Second edition 1985.
Third edition 1994.