|
 Ever since the Wright brothers took off from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina more than a century ago, in a contraption built of bailing wire and bicycle parts, airplanes have been turning heads and making noise.
As anyone who lives under the departure pattern of San Diego International Airport can tell you, takeoffs have a way of blotting out large chucks of telephone conversations and TV programs, especially during warmer weather, when windows are open.
That's where the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority's Quieter Home Program can help. Begun in 2001, the program uses grant funding provided through the Federal Aviation Authority's Part 150 Noise Compatibility Study. These funds are generated from user fees paid by airlines and the traveling public.
In 2008 the QHP availed itself of $25 million in such grants, some of which were encumbered and carried over from previous years. A more typical funding allocation is $10 million to $12 million per year. These Airport Improvement Program funds (AIPs) pay for the retrofitting of 300 to 600 homes, depending on their size and complexity. Historic homes from the early 1900s, which abound in the Point Loma area, are much more complex and challenging to update than newer condominiums and apartment units.
Since the Quieter Home Program began eight years ago, 1,600 homes have been upgraded to mitigate aircraft noise. About 9,000 units remain on the waiting list for such retrofitting. My own residence at the Point Loma Tennis Club falls into the "to do" category. At projected current upgrades progress, the program could continue for another 20 years, or even longer.
Heading these efforts is Sjohnna Knack, an engaging program director with a degree in aviation management. She has been enamored with flying since she was nine, when a neighbor took her up for a ride in his new Piper Cub. Knack was formerly systems manager at San Francisco International Airport and has been with the Quieter Home Program for 3 1/2 years. In addition to her staff of 20, some 50 to 60 technical consulting staff are available as private contractors. These include architects, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineers and draftsmen.
Knack enjoys positively impacting those who benefit from the QHP, improving the quality of their lives by facilitating things most of us take for granted - a more restful sleep, and telephone  conversations uninterrupted by jet noise.
"I meet a lot of people with really interesting backgrounds, retired naval personnel, Purple Heart veterans, a woman who worked in the defense plants during WW II as a 'Rosie the Riveter'. It's very uplifting to be able to help these people.", she said, while sitting behind her office desk, surrounded by maps and schedules.
There are basically four ways in which aircraft noise can be controlled and mitigated. These include land acquisition (designated use and zoning around airport parameters), improving aircraft frame and engine designs, limiting hours of operations and controlling flight patterns and engine power settings during takeoffs, and modifying and soundproofing existing structures.
This last approach is where the Quieter Home Program excels. Knack's mandate from the FAA is to apply retrofitted soundproofing to any residence, schools (which were given first priority), places of worship, and noise-sensitive businesses such as day care centers. Retrofitting-applicable buildings are those within aircraft noise corridors which are at or exceeding 65 decibels (dB) of air traffic noise. Currently, Knack's team is working on reducing interior noise levels in the 66 and 67-dB range, both to the east and west of the airport.
Typical upgrades include installing four tracks with dual sashes, sliding acoustic windows, solid core doors, attic insulation where accessible, exterior heat pumps, interior duct work for heating, air conditioning, and ventilation; chimney baffles as appropriate, and modified mail slots and other openings in a structure.
The FAA measurement standard for a successful noise abatement retrofit is to reduce interior noise levels by 5 dB, which mathematically equals a 50 percent decrease in outside environmental noise. That is significant and noticeable. It also results in a much, much quieter living space.
 Aircraft produce the greatest amount of engine noise on departure, when they are climbing and need higher power settings for operational safety. Noise coming from an aircraft depends on the type of equipment and distance or altitude. For example, a DC-9 at 5,500 feet produces 90 dB of sound. In comparison, those car alarms that play an escalating series of annoying tunes, none of which are destined to make it big on American Idol, will move the noise needle to 102 dB. Barking dogs with an attitude can growl as loud as 110 dB.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cautions against unprotected noise of 85 decibels, slightly less than a gasoline powered lawn mower, for longer than eight hours a day.
In the more peaceful surroundings of the Quieter Home Program offices, Knack explains that while the FAA takes aircraft noise complaints, her objective is to comply with Title 21 of California's State Noise Ordinance, by proving to the state that businesses and residences within flight traffic patterns meet 65 dB contour compatibility. In other words, people inside these structures should be able to carry on normal conversations, without being drowned out by aircraft noise. Proof of compliance comes in the form of Avigation Easements, documents that property owners sign relinquishing their rights to sue over noise issues. These are filed with the County Clerk's office after retrofit construction has been completed.
If an airport cannot meet the state noise ordinance requirements, it can apply for a Noise Variance, or it can acquire land under the airport's flight patterns and remove such property from residential or commercial zoning. Even in the depressed Southern California real estate market, buying such properties is not feasible. Getting a Noise Variance is cumbersome, and requires a formal application and public hearing before an administrative law judge. So the best approach is what the QHP is already doing-- making homes quieter.
Are they succeeding? Knack said the program has been successful thus far.
"We have a 98 percent rate of satisfaction, as validated by a post-construction questionnaire, which we give to every homeowner along with their warranty package," she said. "Our goal is to build on our reputation, by doing excellent work, being open and transparent, answering all homeowners' questions, using the latest new technologies, high quality materials and the most competent contractors."
Joel Siegfried is a Point Loma resident and is currently in the design phase of having his condominium upgraded by the Quieter Home Program.
 |
