8/31/12
AC noise reflects into adjoining apartments
The Tower window air conditioners are next to a concrete corner wall. The noise bounces off the concrete and deflects into adjoining units. This is a loud humming, droning noise -- not white noise. The noise penetrates closed windows. Park La Brea tower air conditioners run at ~80 dB, adding ~20 db noise to adjoining units: FOUR TIMES LOUDER THAN NORMAL!
Los Angeles Air Conditioner Noise Hotline: Dial 311
7/24/12
Noise Isn't Just Annoying -- It's Bad for Your Health
Noise Isn't Just Annoying -- It's Bad for Your Health
Noise pollution has as much to do with persistent low frequency sounds and vibrations – such as those emitted by wind turbines, ventilation systems, or electronic devices – as loud and jarring sounds.
Across the world – as our numbers swell, as nations get more urbanized, and societies become more technology-dependent – we humans are getting noisier. “Among environmental factors in Europe, environmental noise leads to a disease burden that is second in magnitude only to that from air pollution,” says a 2011 World Health Organization report. In the United States, noise is now the number one neighborhood complaint, beating out crime and traffic, according to the American Housing Survey conducted by the US Census.
There have been incidents of noise conflicts leading to violence and even murder. So loud and persistent are the sounds we create as we go about the business of living that researchers say there is scarcely any place left on land or water that is free of man-made noise. We have changed what our planet sounds like. Yet there seems to be little understanding of just how seriously noise is threatening our natural world – and us. “It’s like this unrecognized growing tsunami of potential impacts; we are growing louder and louder and no one is noticing,” says Dr. Mike Webster, director of Cornell University’s Macaulay Library, the world’s oldest archive of biodiversity audio and video recordings.
There are reams of research showing that noise – commonly defined as unwanted or unpleasant sound – is not merely an annoyance. Like other forms of pollution, it has wide-ranging adverse health, social, and environmental effects. In humans, noise pollution damages hearing, disturbs communication, disrupts sleep, affects heart function, intrudes on cognition in children, reduces productivity, provokes unwanted behaviors, and increases accidents. “To say noise simply annoys people is to underestimate the effect it has on our mental and physical well-being,” says Manhattan-based psychologist and noise expert Dr. Arline Bronzaft, whose 1970s research on the effects of noise on children’s learning is considered a landmark in the field.
Bronzaft points out that noise pollution has as much to do with persistent low frequency sounds and vibrations – such as those emitted by wind turbines, ventilation systems, or electronic devices – as loud and jarring sounds. The effect of manmade noise is far more profound on the fragile and complex sound systems of the natural world. Oceans, forests, grasslands, and deserts all have their own internal harmonies. Their unique soundscapes carry important messages for marine and terrestrial animals.
When humans interrupt those harmonies, birds and animals can suffer. “In a natural environment, animal voices are created in such a way that each group of critters can hear each other,” says musician and naturalist Bernie Krause, who has spent four decades recording sounds of the biological world, which he calls “biophony.” Krause found that animals divide up the acoustic spectrum so that “birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals all find their own niches, their own bandwidths to vocalize in” so that when they issue mating calls or cry out warnings, their voices aren’t masked by the sounds being made by other animals. Human noise, which Krause calls “anthrophony,” disrupts this natural symphony. “The critters have to find new bandwidths they can vocalize in,” he says, “and when they do that it becomes very chaotic and has a great impact on them and causes great stress.”
Noise pollution has as much to do with persistent low frequency sounds and vibrations – such as those emitted by wind turbines, ventilation systems, or electronic devices – as loud and jarring sounds.
Across the world – as our numbers swell, as nations get more urbanized, and societies become more technology-dependent – we humans are getting noisier. “Among environmental factors in Europe, environmental noise leads to a disease burden that is second in magnitude only to that from air pollution,” says a 2011 World Health Organization report. In the United States, noise is now the number one neighborhood complaint, beating out crime and traffic, according to the American Housing Survey conducted by the US Census.
There have been incidents of noise conflicts leading to violence and even murder. So loud and persistent are the sounds we create as we go about the business of living that researchers say there is scarcely any place left on land or water that is free of man-made noise. We have changed what our planet sounds like. Yet there seems to be little understanding of just how seriously noise is threatening our natural world – and us. “It’s like this unrecognized growing tsunami of potential impacts; we are growing louder and louder and no one is noticing,” says Dr. Mike Webster, director of Cornell University’s Macaulay Library, the world’s oldest archive of biodiversity audio and video recordings.
There are reams of research showing that noise – commonly defined as unwanted or unpleasant sound – is not merely an annoyance. Like other forms of pollution, it has wide-ranging adverse health, social, and environmental effects. In humans, noise pollution damages hearing, disturbs communication, disrupts sleep, affects heart function, intrudes on cognition in children, reduces productivity, provokes unwanted behaviors, and increases accidents. “To say noise simply annoys people is to underestimate the effect it has on our mental and physical well-being,” says Manhattan-based psychologist and noise expert Dr. Arline Bronzaft, whose 1970s research on the effects of noise on children’s learning is considered a landmark in the field.
Bronzaft points out that noise pollution has as much to do with persistent low frequency sounds and vibrations – such as those emitted by wind turbines, ventilation systems, or electronic devices – as loud and jarring sounds. The effect of manmade noise is far more profound on the fragile and complex sound systems of the natural world. Oceans, forests, grasslands, and deserts all have their own internal harmonies. Their unique soundscapes carry important messages for marine and terrestrial animals.
When humans interrupt those harmonies, birds and animals can suffer. “In a natural environment, animal voices are created in such a way that each group of critters can hear each other,” says musician and naturalist Bernie Krause, who has spent four decades recording sounds of the biological world, which he calls “biophony.” Krause found that animals divide up the acoustic spectrum so that “birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals all find their own niches, their own bandwidths to vocalize in” so that when they issue mating calls or cry out warnings, their voices aren’t masked by the sounds being made by other animals. Human noise, which Krause calls “anthrophony,” disrupts this natural symphony. “The critters have to find new bandwidths they can vocalize in,” he says, “and when they do that it becomes very chaotic and has a great impact on them and causes great stress.”
7/21/12
2/17/12
PLB Tower Air Conditioners 80+ decibels
Park La Brea Tower air conditioner run at ~80+ decibels. The humming noise reflects off the wall and increases ambient noise levels in ajoining apartments by ~20 decibels -- that is FOUR TIMES AS LOUD as normal. That is like having a diesel truck parked outside your window.Most units do not have air conditioners -- we just open our windows for a cool breeze. But we can’t due to the droning air conditioners. Let's make PLB a peaceful place to live.
- Demand that PLB forbid the use of Tower air conditioners.
- Demand that PLB remove all Tower air conditioners.
- Call PLB Management: 323-549-5432
- Call Los Angeles Building Department: 1-888-LA4BUIL
- Dial 311 for Los Angeles help line
LOUDNESS AS DECIBELS INCREASE:
+3 dB Barely Perceptible Change
+5 dB Clearly Noticeable Change
+10 dB Twice as Loud
+20 dB four Times as Loud
Park La Brea tower air conditioners run at ~80 dB and add ~20 db noise to adjoining units: FOUR TIMES LOUDER THAN NORMAL!
Los Angeles Air Conditioner Noise Hotline: Dial 311
Park La Brea Air Conditioner: Stick head out window
The PLB Tower air conditioners are not loud from inside the apartment, but are very loud and disturbing for neighboring residents who depend on the original adobe-like design of the buildings to keep cool. They must open the windows and let the gentle breeze blow through. Please, check it out. Stick your head out the window and see what it sounds like from the outside.
Los Angeles Air Conditioner Noise Hotline: Dial 311
Noise: Air conditioner vs Diesel Truck
A diesal truck noise is ~85 decibels, similar to Park La Brea Tower air conditioners. The Tower air conditioners are uber noisy for the neighbors who depend on an open window for cooling.Los Angeles Air Conditioner Noise Hotline: Dial 311
Park La Brea: Modern Adobe
The PLB Tower apartments were intelligently designed by renowned architects to stay cool by allowing easy air flow in each unit through open windows, and exposing only one thick concrete wall to the elements. In short, the Towers were intended to keep cool just like an adobe house keeps cool: circulation and insulation.
The Towers stayed that way for many years, under the control of intelligent owners and managers who understood that air conditioners are not necessary in the Towers due to this fabulous architectural design for a natural cooling system. Then, PLB started installing loud EnviroMaster International air conditioners. Although air conditioners are not necessary in the Towers, you would not know that until you moved in.. But advertising the units with “AIR CONDITIONING” makes it easier to rent the units.
The EnviroMaster International air conditioners increase the ambient noise levels by 20+ dBA inside adjoining apartments.
- Were approvals obtained by the Los Angeles authorities to install these EnviroMaster International air conditioners?
- Did anyone test the noise levels of the air conditioners?
- Does anyone measure noise levels from ANY source in one of the largest apartment complexes in the world?
Noisy Tower Basement Fans
The Park La Brea Towers have loud, basement fans running 24/7 that are almost as noisy as the horrible tower air conditioners. The droning, humming noise from the basement fans is constant and horrendous. Los Angeles Air Conditioner Noise Hotline: Dial 311
Park La Brea Leaf Blowers
Leaf blowers don't just blow leaves; they blow everything that is on the ground, like fungi and fecal matter. Who wants to breathe that? Los Angeles Leaf Blower Hotline: 1-800-996-CITY
70 Decibel LA Film AC Driving Neighbors Nuts!
Park La Brea Towers window air conditioners run at over 80 decibels. LA Film School air conditioner ran at 70 decibels -- driving the neighbors nuts until they stopped it.
Los Angeles Air Conditioner Noise Hotline: Dial 311
Los Angeles Air Conditioner Noise Hotline: Dial 311
Loudness and Sound Intensity (Power)
The relative loudness that we perceive is a subjective psychological phenomenon, not something that can be objectively measured. Most of us perceive one sound to be twice as loud as another one when they are about 10 dB apart; for instance, a 60-dB air conditioner will sound twice as loud as a 50-dB refrigerator. Yet that 10-dB difference represents a tenfold increase in intensity. A 70-dB dishwasher will sound about four times as loud as the 50-dB refrigerator, but in terms of acoustic intensity, the sound it makes is 100 times as powerful." From NOISE HELP.A diesel truck is 85 decibels, about the same as
Los Angeles Air Conditioner Noise Hotline: Dial 311
What is a Decibel?
The decibel scale is more EXPONENTIAL than linear. For the first 30-40 decibels perceived loudness does not change that much, but after about 40, every increase of 1 decibels hugely increases the loudness. Here is a demo sound file showing the size of a decibel, and how you hear changes in decibels.
Noise: Air Conditioner vs Vacuum Cleaner
A quiet room is 30-40 decibels. This electrolux vaccuum cleaner is 77 decibels. That is about the same as the Park La Brea basement fans that run 24/7. And The Park La Brea Apartent Tower air conditioners run at 80+ dBA, increasing the sound levels about 20 decibels in adjoining units which equals a fourfold increase in loudness. Los Angeles Air Conditioner Noise Hotline: Dial 311
Park La Brea Debris Blowing
"Also known as debris blowers, these industrial machines explode and then fire up at more than 100 mph hour and kick up chemicals, fungi, spores, animal fecal matter, molds, diesel soot, allergens and other toxic substances. They combine to compose deadly particulate matter."
--Shepherd Bliss
In addition to adverse health effects of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and particulates generated in the exhaust gas of the gasoline-powered engines, leaf blowers pose problems related to dust raised by the powerful flow of air. Dust clouds caused by leaf blowers contain potentially harmful substances such as pesticides, mold, and animal fecal matter that may cause irritation, allergies, and disease.
Gas powered leaf blowers increase the presence of airborne particles, which may cause problems for persons suffering from asthma, hay fever, or other upper respiratory ailments. Los Angeles Municipal Section 112. 04 (c) bans the use of the gas powered leaf blower device to minimize the nuisance and health related problems attributed to this type of equipment. "No gas powered blower shall be used within 500 feet of a residence at anytime. Both the user of such a blower as well as the individual who contracted for the services of the user if any, shall be subject to the requirements of and penalty provisions for this ordinance."
Los Angeles Leaf Blower Hotline: 1-800-996-CITY
2/16/12
Leaf Blower Links
Do you like breathing debris, chemicals, fungi and fecal matter? Do you consider leaf blowers part of a "tranquil retreat?"
Do you know that Los Angeles has a Leaf Blower Hotline?
Los Angeles Leaf Blower Hotline: 1-800-996-CITY
LA Times
New Yorker: Blowback
ZAPLA: Zero Air Pollution
Leaf Blower Facts
Letter to Leafblowers
Dangers of Leaf Blowers
Time to ban this health threat: Leaf blowers
Get Rid of the Leaf Blower
For Goodness Rake
CA Report on the Impact of Leaf Blowers
Leaf Blower Abuse
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