Article Summary:
For updated information on Logan’s current Residential Sound Insulation Program, please click here.
While Massport cannot eliminate noise at its source, the effects have been reduced through one of the most extensive sound insulation programs in the country. Massport’s Residential Sound Insulation Program to date has treated 11,000 dwelling units, including 5,500 homes and 36 schools. Since the program began, Massport has spent $170 million to sound insulate dwellings and schools.
Eligibility for the program is based on Federal requirements. The FAA has designated 65 db DNL annual contours as the critical threshold for sound treatment eligibility. Massport submits to the FAA for approval a 65 DNL noise contour (also called a Noise Exposure Map or NEM) for a specific year. After FAA approval, Massport uses the NEM to determine residential sound insulation eligibility.
To be eligible a home must fall within the FAA approved NEM and pass a pre-testing requirement which determines if the home will benefit from sound insulation treatments. Residents may experience noise from Logan-related aircraft but not qualify for sound treatments if the home is outside the FAA approved NEM or, if within the NEM, pre-testing determines the home will not benefit from the program.
The most recent FAA approved NEM is based on calendar year 2020 flight operations and can be viewed below:
Massport Letter to FAA, NEM 2020
FAA Acceptance Letter, NEM 2020
To determine if your home is eligible, we encourage you to contact us by using Massport’s Noise Report Line at 617-561-3333 or send us an email. Based on the address you provide, we will determine if your home is eligible.
Noise contours may change from year to year, the FAA requires Massport to periodically submit a new NEM for review and approval. Therefore, eligibility for any particular home may change over time. The number of homes that are treated in any given year is dependent on the availability of federal grants.
As part of the program, Massport provides architects, contractors, acoustical specialists, as well as all materials and labor needed to complete the project. Selective treatment-related acoustical tests are performed before and after the work, to make sure the job is done correctly.
Structural repairs to a dwelling, or routine maintenance and rehabilitation unconnected with noise reduction, are not part of the program; however, typical acoustical treatments involving weatherization, window and door upgrades provide the benefit of energy savings as well.
Window treatments to reduce noise can range from simple weather-stripping to full window replacements. Loose-fitting doors might also be corrected with the addition of storm doors and weather-stripping, or replaced with tighter, solid core doors.
In addition to improvements throughout a residence, homeowners can opt to have Massport conduct extensive improvements to a single room. Extra sound insulation, including acoustically treated exterior walls and ceilings, are then added to this room of preference.
With double wall and ceiling treatments, replacement windows and doors, acoustical caulking and weather stripping, effective soundproofing can reduce perceived noise by as much as 50 percent throughout a house, or by as much as 80 percent in a specially designated room.