"The challenge to the developers...
"Clearly, if they want to sell this as a luxury building," he said in the construction office a block from the site, "having this kind of noise pass by every two or three minutes would be objectionable."
...measured the noise at the site, it came in at 96 decibels - about the same as a crowded bar with a D.J. spinning hip-hop discs. To mitigate the din, and to help sell the condos, some of which will cost more than $2 million, Mr. Milsom recommended sound-muffling windows from a company that makes them for airport terminals.
...multiplying are specialized soundproofing windows and creative designs to limit the exposure of residents to the racket.
...Charles Salter, an acoustical engineer, said his firm was handling about four times as many projects involving sound problems in residential developments as it did five years ago.
He regularly recommends that developers install laminated glass and extra layers of gypsum board in the walls to insulate condos from outside noise.
...He recommended triple-glazed windows for a 37-story tower known as the Residences at RiverBend, because its west facade overlooks the nexus of several elevated subway and commuter train lines.
...city dwellers must accept a certain level of noise, and many take fire engines, police sirens and honking horns as a given.
..."if you don't properly mitigate the noise problem, you will have to offer your apartments at a discount,"...
...a window wall will have two panes, one slightly thicker than the conventional quarter-inch, with half an inch between them to block the sound of buses.
...Some developers make noise control part of the pitch.
...buyers will be able to inspect a sample window: two half-inch-thick panes sandwiching eight inches of sound-deadening air. They will also be able to experience the difference between the noise with standard windows and the custom windows, by clamping on headsets and listening to a recording.
...the custom windows would reduce decibels to 40 inside from 96 outside...
...the cost of installing the soundproofing windows was roughly double the cost for conventional windows.
...Other developers prefer to sidestep the issue entirely.
...Homeowners in noisy neighborhoods ...install laminated glass windows, three-eighths of an inch thick, which will require rebuilding the historic window frames at a cost of more than $3,000 each."
NYT
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