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Traffic noise in LCA

Part 1: state-of-science and requirement profile for consistent context-sensitive integration of traffic noise in LCA

  • METHODOLOGY • NOISE
  • Published:
The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background, aim, and scope

According to some recent studies, noise from road transport is estimated to cause human health effects of the same order of magnitude as the sum of all other emissions from the transport life cycle. Thus, ISO 14′040 implies that traffic noise effects should be considered in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies where transports might play an important role. So far, five methods for the inclusion of noise in LCA have been proposed. However, at present, none of them is implemented in any of the major life cycle inventory (LCI) databases and commonly used in LCA studies. The goal of the present paper is to define a requirement profile for a method to include traffic noise in LCA and to assess the compliance of the five existing methods with this profile. It concludes by identifying necessary cornerstones for a model for noise effects of generic road transports that meets all requirements.

Materials and methods

Requirements for a methodological framework for inclusion of traffic noise effects in LCA are derived from an analysis of how transports are included in 66 case studies published in International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment in 2006 and 2007, in the sustainability reports of ten Swiss companies, as well as on the basis of theoretical considerations. Then, the general compliance of the five existing methods for inclusion of noise in LCA with the postulated requirement profile is assessed.

Results

Six general requirements for a methodological framework for inclusion of traffic noise effects in LCA were identified. A method needs to be applicable for (1) both generic and specific transports, (2) different modes of transport, (3) different vehicles within one mode of transport, (4) transports in different geographic contexts, (5) different temporal contexts, and (6) last but not least, the method needs to be compatible with the ISO standards on LCA. One of the reviewed methods is not specific for transports at all and two are only applicable for specific transports. The other two allow generic and specific road transports to be assessed. The methods either deal with road traffic noise only or they compare noise from different sources, ignoring the fact that not only physical sound levels but also the source of sound determines the effect. Three methods only differentiate between vehicle classes (lorries and passenger cars) while one method differentiates between specific vehicles of the same class. Four of the methods consider the geographic context and three of them differentiate between day- and nighttime traffic.

Discussion

None of the existing methods for traffic noise integration in LCA complies with the proposed requirement profile. They either lack the genericness for a wide application or they lack the specificity needed for differentiations in LCA studies. There is no method available that allows for appropriate inter- or intramodal comparison of traffic noise effects. Thus, the benefit of the existing methods is limited. They can, in the better cases, only demonstrate the relative importance of road or rail traffic noise effects compared to the nonnoise-related effects of transportation.

Conclusions

Currently, none of the major LCI databases includes traffic noise indicators. Thus, noise effects are usually not considered in LCA studies. We introduce a requirement profile for methods that allow the inclusion of noise in LCI. Due to the estimated significance of noise in transport LCA, this inclusion will change the overall results of many LCA studies. None of the existing methods fully complies with the requirement profile. Two of the methods can be modified and extended for inclusion in generic LCI databases. A third model allows for intermodal comparison. From an LCA perspective, all methods include weaknesses and need to be amended in order to make them widely usable.

Recommendations and perspectives

In part 2 of this paper, an in-depth analysis of the promising methods is provided, improvement potential is evaluated, and a new context-sensitive framework for the consistent LCI modeling of noise emissions from road transportation is presented. Appropriate methods for modeling rail and air traffic noise will have to be developed in the future in order to arrive at a methodological framework fully compliant with the requirement profile. Furthermore, future research is needed to identify appropriate methods for impact assessment.

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Notes

  1. The background document for this method (Nielsen and Laursen 2005) refers to an Excel tool for the actual application of the method. This file could be retrieved neither from the authors nor from the publisher of the method (Danish EPA).

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Acknowledgments

We thank Gabor Doka, Ruedi Müller-Wenk, and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments, Kurt Heutschi and Kurt Eggenschwiler from the Empa acoustic laboratory for fruitful discussions, and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment FOEN for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Technology and Society Laboratory, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa), Ueberlandstrasse 129, 8600, Duebendorf, Switzerland

    Hans-Jörg Althaus

  2. Natural and Social Science Interface, Institute for Environmental Decisions, ETH Zurich, Universitaetstr. 22, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Hans-Jörg Althaus, Peter de Haan & Roland W. Scholz

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  1. Hans-Jörg Althaus
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  2. Peter de Haan
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Correspondence to Hans-Jörg Althaus.

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Responsible editor: Ralph Rosenbaum

This paper consists of two parts. Part 1 analyzes the background and state-of-the-art of traffic noise assessment in LCA. Part 2 undertakes a detailed analysis of existing methods and proposes a framework for a context-sensitive method for the consistent inclusion of relevant human health effects of generic road transportation noise.

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Althaus, HJ., de Haan, P. & Scholz, R.W. Traffic noise in LCA. Int J Life Cycle Assess 14, 560–570 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-009-0116-2

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