Sound analysis settles quieter cities
Cities - especially inner city regions, are beset by noise. Yet silence and the ability to enjoy a relaxing, quiet time is vital to our sense of well-being and quality of living and comfort. Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in order to study the ebb and flow of noise pollution however, may provide an insight into cities that are better structured to reduce noise. In order to do so, the understanding of air velocities and air patterns becomes imperative. CFD are process intensive and monitoring and calculating air flows and velocities are complex requirements. Therefore establishing a methodology that incorporates wind factors as well as the voids surrounding buildings and establishing boundary conditions that does not overly compromise calculation quality is important. Since CFD modeling works well to calculate such complexities, it is likewise possible to determine a common framework and the critical parameters to develop an urban design tool. Such a tool would provide an invaluable aid for city developers and urban planners to develop cities that are quieter and thus offer more quality living conditions. For outdoor areas, the tool could help to provide a quality of service feature that could attract more commerce and people. The developers are looking for collaboration to further research and develop the methodology, which is currently being applied for testing in three European cities.
