Periodic Reporting for period 3 - WHISSPER (WHISSPER - fighting traffic noise exposure by diffraction) Período documentado: 2021-05-01 hasta 2022-03-31 Resumen del contexto y de los objetivos generales del proyecto The Main objective of the WHISSPER project is to ensure commercial scalability and to enable international product acceptance for our WHIS®solutions, using a totally new method to reduce traffic noise by redirecting the noise upwards.In Europe 1 in 4 Europeans is being exposed to noise levels dangerous to their health. According to the WHO traffic noise is the second largest stressor affecting human health in Europe. The most dominant sources of traffic noise are road- and rail traffic. In Europe alone € 5,43 Billion is spent on average each year on measures to reduce traffic noise.Worldwide there are only 2 large scale applied methods for noise abatement, namely blocking the noise with a noise barrier/screen or absorbing it with porous asphalt and/or rail dampers. These solutions have seen only incremental improvements over the years and have proven to be insufficient and/or unattractive in various situations because of issues with life-time, noise reduction levels, high costs, applicability and landscape view. 4Silence has invented a unique worldwide patented third-way solution to the problem that meets the needs of road and railway authorities. Instead of absorbing (porous asphalt) or blocking (noise screens) the noise from traffic is diffracted in an upward direction, creating a zone of noise reduction behind the element. The diffracting element is a so-called resonator that is placed alongside the road or railway. A resonator is a device that exhibits resonance, that is, it naturally oscillates at some frequencies, called its ’resonant frequencies’, with greater amplitude than at others.We have turned the resonator into two innovative solutions that can be applied along road- and railway. These are: 1. WHIS®wall, a 1.00m high element combined with a diffracting element (resonator), resulting in a noise reduction equal to a sound barrier of 3.00m high;2. WHIS®stone, a concrete diffractor placed horizontal next to the road, resulting in a noise reduction equal to porous asphalt; The main objectives can be summarized as follows:1. Ensure Commercial Scalability• Technical Scaling Preparation (WP1)• Communication & commercialisation (WP3)2. Enable international product acceptance• 6 Pilots demonstrations (WP2)• Product acceptance & uptake in calculation models (WP2)By the end of the project the following results were achieved:- Existing production methods are fully optimized on scale and cost effectiveness- production of the WHIS®solutions ready to scale up. If the demand increases 4Silence knows exactly what to do to further scale the production. - 4 pilots- a test facility was set up to facilitate governments to perform measurements in a controlled environment instead of doing pilots- the client network was extended significantly in UK, Germany, Belgium and Denmark Trabajo realizado desde el comienzo del proyecto hasta el final del período abarcado por el informe y los principales resultados hasta la fecha In the first year a lot work has been done in the field of technical scaling. We have been researching the possibilities of manufacturing a WHIS®stone out of Self Compacting Concrete, which turned out to be very expensive with very limited advantages. Furthermore we completely worked out the scaling up of the production of the WHIS®wall. On technical part there is a lot or research conducted on the usage of alternative materials, which has led to new products, product designs and sustainability advantages. All relevant for the commercial position of 4Silence.In Belgium, Germany and Denmark we have done pilot projects. In Belgium this was done with the Belgium Road Research Center and the Flemish Road Authority at the N445 near Zele, where 150 meters of WHISwall was installed. The noise reduction measurement results on site were excellent (10dB on average). These measurement on site were extended with some additional measurements at our Test facility in Enschede (NL) in june 2020, where the results were similar. The pilot in Germany, together with Deutsche Bahn, is part of the I-Lena program. This program's goal is to find cost effective solutions for the reduction of Railway Noise. In this program there is an independent notified body that executes all the noise reduction measurements. The measurement results of the Deutsche Bahn (DB) are promising as well, which has led to the ambition of DB to add Diffraction to the SCHALL03 model. For the German roads several measurements were executed by the German Federal Highway Institute (BAST). In all situations the results were as expected, leading to the necessary approval by BAST for application next to the German roads. Last but not least, there was a pilot done in Denmark near Vallensbaek.In addition to the actual pilots, also a lot acoustic simulations were done in this project. The most complex simulation was done by the Center for Modelling and Simulation from the UK to determine the effect of the WHIS®top in a high speed railway environment (360 km/h). The results show that the height of the noise barriers can be reduced with 2 meters, by simply replacing that height with a WHIS®top.To achieve our goal we have also been very busy building our network to make arrangements for new pilots with new infrastructure owners. we have been in contact with over 1300 companies and more than 2000 people throughout Europe (and beyond). Next to building the network ourselves, we contracted sales partners in Belgium, UK, France and Denmark. Due to the COVID19 pandemic we had to make a change to our approach, which actually made it more effective. There was almost no travelling and a lot of online meetings, which makes it more easy to talk to more people. To improve our reach we developed a new communication strategy and started implementing it. This new strategy contains the development of a new website, brochure, product sheets and a lot more. We have also been exhibiting our products at several fairs like INTERnoise 2019 in Madrid, NoiseCON in San Diego, the International Workshop on Railway Noise 2019 in Gent and the DAGA2021 & 2022. In this project we have been updating our business plan as well, especially on gathering more information and evidence on the market dynamics. Avances que van más allá del estado de la técnica e impacto potencial esperado (incluida la repercusión socioeconómica y las implicaciones sociales más amplias del proyecto hasta la fecha) The result of this project are a range of products that can be deployed to reduce traffic noise is a very cost effective manner. Relevant evidence has been delivered to further deploy the WHIS®solutions on the field of acoustics, sustainability and other rules and regulations. The product will be added to the Dutch Noise Calculation model in april 2022, after which the French and German model will follow.Studies on decision making and application of noise abatement measures in several European countries show that cost-effectiveness is the main criterion for noise abatement measures. Effectiveness is usually expressed in the amount of noise reduction in dB, often combined with the number of people that benefit from the measure. Bearing in mind the budgetary situation of local, regional and/or national road and railway authorities, cost-effective measures that support meeting the applicable norms for noise exposure in the local circumstances are generally prioritized for implementation. Both the WHISstone and the WHISwall are cost-effective, when compared to the alternative (silent road surfaces, Noise barriers). WHISwall installed in Belgium at the N445 near Zele. Installation of Pilot Denmark WHISwall installed near Munchen, next to a Deutsche Bahn track Measurements by German Federal Highway Institute (BAST) on 4Silence Test Facility Pilot in Germany (Nördlingen) 4Silence Booth at Internoise 2019 in Madrid
