Noise Annoyance Due to Wind Flow Interaction with a Building’s Facade

Abstract

The analysis of acoustic emissions generated by the interaction between the wind and a building’s facade of approximately 90 m high, located in the city of Montevideo, is presented. There is a helipad on the roof of the building. It is surrounded by a perforated plate (4.87 m high). Once the building was finished, complaints about the noise annoyance were expressed by some neighbors and working population in the building. Measurements of sound pressure levels on the site have been done. Also the possible acoustic sources were physically characterized. The noise source was identified: the acoustical emissions were associated with a phenomenon caused by wind speeds above 20 m/s from different directions, generating high sounds pressure levels in octave band of 4000 Hz, after its passage through the perforated plate on the contour of the roof. These studies were complemented by measurements in wind tunnel using a physical model built with the same plate installed in the building, which allowed verifying the results.