Stationary Noise Study Stonebridge Golf and Country Club Ottawa, Ontario REPORT: GmE 09-042 Noise Prepared For: Kris Haynes 3584 Jockvale Road Ottawa, Ontario K2C 3H2 Prepared By: Thomas Couper, B.Eng., Project Engineer Vincent Ferraro, M.Eng., P.Eng., Principal April 25, 2013 127 Walgreen Road, Ottawa, Ontario K0A 1L0 Tel.: (613) 836-0934 Fax: (613) 836-8183 www.gradientwind.com
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Gradient Microclimate Engineering Inc. (GmE) was retained by to perform a stationary noise assessment for a proposed residential development near Stonebridge Golf and Country Club in Ottawa, Ontario. This report focuses on the outdoor noise impacts from the maintenance facility, such as lawn mowers and tractors entering and exiting the facility. This study is based on architectural drawings provided by and recent site imagery. Our assessment of noise impacts from the lawn mowers and tractors along the proposed west service road, relating to the maintenance facility at Stonebridge Golf and Country Club, shows that noise levels could exceed the City of Ottawa Environmental Noise Control Guidelines (ENCG) exclusionary noise level limits. To reduce noise levels at the proposed noise sensitive areas to within the ENCG limits, all maintenance vehicles should enter/exit along a reconfigured east service road, as illustrated in Figure 2. The service road should be set back a minimum distance of 50 meters from the proposed residential property lines. Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment i
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. TERMS OF REFERENCE 1 3. OBJECTIVES 3 4. METHODOLOGY 3 4.1. Perception of Noise 3 4.2. Stationary Noise Criteria 4 4.3. Determination of Noise Source Power Levels 4 4.4. Stationary Source Noise Predictions 5 5. NOISE LEVELS 6 5.1. Future Conditions Vehicles Exiting on West Service Road 6 5.2. Future Conditions Vehicles Exiting on Realigned East Service Road 7 6. CONCLUSIONS 9 FIGURES PHOTOGRAPHS Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment ii
1. INTRODUCTION Gradient Microclimate Engineering Inc. (GmE ) was retained by to perform a stationary noise impact assessment on the future residential development situated north of the maintenance buildings at the Stonebridge Golf and Country Club in Ottawa, Ontario. Monarch Corporation also owns and operates the golf course. GmE performed an assessment of the noise impacts from the maintenance facility on residences along the facility s western boundary in October 2009 1. This report focuses on the outdoor noise impacts from the movements of the lawn mowers and tractors that service the golf course. This study is based on architectural drawings provided by IBI Group, surrounding street layouts from recent site imagery and information gathered from the source in the 2009 report. 2. TERMS OF REFERENCE The focus of this detailed noise assessment is the future residential development situated north of the maintenance facility at the Stonebridge Golf and Country Club. The development will comprise 11 residential lots. The site is located east of Kilbirnie Drive, between Cedardown Private and Sandgate Ridge. Local surroundings include a golf course to the north and east, the golf course maintenance facility to the south, and residential housing to the west. The most significant source of noise in the area is from the Stonebridge Golf and Country Club s maintenance facility, located south of the proposed development. The maintenance facility is also owned and operated by. Two fabric domes stand on the maintenance property, including a 46 meter (m) 19 m dome with internal hard partitioned spaces, and a second storage dome measuring 46 m long 8 m wide, (Photographs 1, 2 and 3). The smaller building is used for storage; and the larger building houses equipment, such as tractors and lawn mowers and a mechanics shop. The maintenance facility operates from 05:30 to 16:00 from Mid- April to Mid-November. Figure 1 illustrates a site plan. 1 GME, Environmental Noise Assessment Stonebridge Golf & Country Club Maintenance Facility, Nepean, Ontario, October 13, 2009 Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 1
Currently, lawn mowers exit the maintenance facility via the west service road, while the tractors exit via the east service road. With the development of a proposed private roadway, the existing west service road will be moved toward the southwest, in closer proximity to residents along Cedardown Private. The lawn mowers and tractors generally leave the maintenance facility early morning, around 5:00 AM, and return during the afternoon. Noise associated with the maintenance facility comprises two types of sources, including, (i) vehicular movements about the property, and (ii) internal building noise. According to the MOE guidelines, the movement of vehicles about the property is considered part of the stationary source. These vehicle movements include staff vehicles entering the parking lot, lawn mowers, power carts, and tractors (Photographs 4 and 5). During the first hour of operation, staff arrive on site, are briefed, and then disperse on various types of lawn mowers to cut greens, fairways, and other maintenance duties; these activities being after sunrise between 05:30 AM and 06:30 AM, depending on the time of year. After the lawn mowers have left, the maintenance facility is quiet until the mowers return about mid-morning. The focus of this study was on the maintenance facility only, and does not consider the impact of the lawn mowers cutting the grass next to houses along the fairways or greens. Furthermore, according to NPC-205, the activity of lawn mowing is exempt from MOE regulations, as it states: Activities related to essential service and maintenance of public facilities such as, but not limited to, roadways, parks and sewers, including snow removal, road cleaning, road repair and maintenance, lawn mowing and maintenance, sewage removal, garbage collection, etc. 2 Lawn mowing at golf courses is also exempted from the City of Ottawa Noise By-Law No. 2004-253, under section 15. (3). Therefore, the noise from lawn mowers, carts and tractors was only considered when these vehicles are in the maintenance facility area. Internal building noise is associated with activities and operations from inside the building, and includes the use of pneumatic tools, an air compressor and grinding of metal. These activities are related to maintenance of the lawn mower fleet, and are emitted from the mechanics shop. 2 Publication NPC-205, Sound Level Limits for Stationary Sources in Class 1 & 2 Areas, MOE, Oct. 1995, A3(2) Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 2
Sharpening of lawn mower blades is done in grinding machines which operate only two weeks of the year (Photographs 6 and 7). Blade sharpness is maintained by using a hand held grinder and placing the blade in a vice. This activity only takes one to two hours during each of the two weeks. 3. OBJECTIVES The main goals of the work are to assess the impact of the noise emanating from the movements of lawn mowers and tractors on nearby sensitive receptors, and to provide advice for mitigation as required by the outcome of the study. 4. METHODOLOGY The impact of the external stationary noise sources on the nearby residential areas was determined by computer modelling. Stationary noise source modelling is based on the software program Predictor developed from the International Standards Organization (ISO) standard 9613 Parts 1 and 2. This computer program is capable of representing three-dimensional surfaces and first reflections of sound waves over a suitable spectrum for human hearing. The methodology has been used on numerous assignments, and has been accepted by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) as part of Environmental Compliance Approvals, formally Certificate of Approval (C of A) applications. 4.1. Perception of Noise Noise can be defined as any obtrusive sound. It is created at a source, transmitted through a medium, such as air, and intercepted by a receiver. Noise may be characterized in terms of the power of the source or the sound pressure at a specific distance. While the power of a source is characteristic of that source, the sound pressure depends on the location of the receiver and the path that the noise takes to reach the receiver. Its measurement is based on the decibel unit, dba, which is a logarithmic ratio referenced to a standard noise level (2 10-5 Pascals). The A suffix refers to a weighting scale, which represents the noise perceived by the human ear. With this scale, a doubling of sound power at the source results in a 3 dba increase in measured noise levels at the receiver, and is just perceptible to most people. An increase of 10 dba is often perceived to be twice as loud. Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 3
Stationary sources are defined in the City of Ottawa Environmental Noise Control Guide as: all sources of sound and vibration, whether fixed or mobile, that exist or operate on a premises, property or facility, the combined sound and vibration levels of which are emitted beyond the property boundary of the premises, property or facility, unless the source(s) is (are) due to construction. 3 4.2. Stationary Noise Criteria The equivalent sound energy level, L EQ, provides a weighted measure of the time varying noise levels, which is well correlated with the annoyance of sound. It is defined as the continuous sound level, which has the same energy as a time varying noise level over a selected period of time. For stationary sources, the L EQ is commonly calculated on an hourly interval, while for roadways, the L EQ is calculated on the basis of a 16-hour daytime / 8-hour night time split. Noise criteria taken from the City of Ottawa Environmental Noise Control Guidelines (ENCG) apply to outdoor points of reception on the property (for daytime operations), taken as the outdoor living area (OLA) at the property line, and the plane of the window (POW) (for nighttime operations). According to this document, based on MOE s NPC-205 4, the recommended maximum noise levels in an urban environment at the OLAs or POWs are 50 dba between the hours of 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM, 47 dba between the hours of 7:00 PM and 11:00 PM, and 45 dba at the POWs between the hours of 11:00 PM and 7:00 AM, or alternately the noise produced by roadway traffic, whichever is greater 5. Background noise levels around the site are not expected to exceed the exclusionary limits; therefore the ENCG 50 dba and 45 dba criteria were used for daytime and overnight noise analysis, respectively. 4.3. Determination of Noise Source Power Levels An Environmental Noise Assessment for the maintenance facility was completed in October, 2009 by GmE (Report #: GmE 09-042-Noise). As part of this earlier study, noise measurements were taken for the lawn mowers, tractors and sharpening equipment. Sound power levels used in 3 City of Ottawa Environmental Noise Control Guidelines, May 10, 2006, p. 22, Section 1.5.1 4 MOE, Sound Level Limits for Stationary Sources in Class 1 and 2 Areas (Urban), Publication NPC-205, Oct. 1995. 5 City of Ottawa Environmental Noise Control Guidelines, May 10, 2006, Table 1.6. Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 4
this study were derived from the measurements taken in the earlier report, as summarized in Table 1 below. The measurements were one hour L eq, therefore no additional adjustment was required. The sharpening equipment is assumed to operate indoors with all doors closed, as recommended in the 2009 GmE report. As such, it has not been included in this study. TABLE 1: SOUND DATA & OPERATING FREQUENCY OF STATIONARY NOISE SOURCES SOURCE Total (dba/m) Lawn Mowers 79 Lawn Mowers + Tractors 82 4.4. Stationary Source Noise Predictions Ten individual noise sensor locations were selected to represent daytime (07:00 AM 11:00 PM) noise levels at the outdoor living areas (OLA s) of the residential properties surrounding the study site in the Predictor model; with receptor heights set to 1.5 m above grade. Nighttime noise levels (11:00 PM 07:00 AM) were measured at the plane of window (POW) with receptor heights of 4.5 m above grade to represent a second storey dwelling. Sensor locations are described in Table 2 and illustrated in Figure 1. Lawn mower and tractor movements were represented as a line source in the Predictor model. Air absorption was calculated assuming an air temperature of 10 C and a relative humidity of 70%. Hard surfaces such as roads, bodies of water and parking lots were modelled as reflective surfaces (G=0), while softer surfaces such as grass lands and parks were modelled as absorptive surfaces (G=1). Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 5
5. NOISE LEVELS 5.1. Original Configuration Vehicles Exiting on West Service Road In its current configuration, lawn mowers enter/exit the maintenance facility using the west service road, while the tractors enter/exit along the east service road. With the addition of new residential housing along Street No. 1, the existing west service road will be reconfigured and moved towards the southwest, in closer proximity to residents on Cedardown Private. Although existing noise levels do not exceed the ENCG limits (as summarized in the 2009 GmE report), noise levels at these points of reception are expected to be elevated if the west service road is moved. Anticipated daytime and nighttime noise levels from equipment along the proposed west service road at the nearby OLA s and POW s were found to exceed the ENCG exclusionary noise limits of 50 dba and 45 dba, respectively, as summarized in Table 2 below. As these noise levels exceed the ENCG criteria, mitigation options must be considered. TABLE 2: PREDICTED DAYTIME NOISE LEVELS AT POR RECEPTOR LOCATION L EQ SOUND LEVEL (dba) NOISE LEVEL CRITERIA (dba) MEETS ENCG CRITERIA DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT R 1 R 2 R 3 POW Dwelling on Cedardown Private POW Dwelling on Cedardown Private POW Dwelling on Cedardown Private 50 Yes No 50 Yes No 48 Yes No R 4 Calibration Receptor 51 No No R 5 R 6 R 7 R 8 R 9 R10 Unit #1 Unit #2 Unit #7 Unit #11 Unit #11 Unit #10 58 No No 46 50 45 Yes No 40 Yes Yes 35 Yes Yes 32 Yes Yes 30 Yes Yes Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 6
5.2. With Mitigation Vehicles Exiting on Realigned East Service Road To reduce noise levels from the lawn mowers and tractors on neighbouring residential properties, consideration has been taken to have all maintenance equipment enter/exit the facility on the east service road. Results of these investigations proved that if the existing east service road is moved southward, noise levels from the maintenance equipment on future residential developments along Street No. 1 will not exceed the ENCG limits. Figure 2 illustrates the boundary line to which the east service road can be constructed. TABLE 3: PREDICTED DAYTIME NOISE LEVELS AT POR RECEPTOR LOCATION L EQ SOUND LEVEL (dba) NOISE LEVEL CRITERIA (dba) MEETS ENCG CRITERIA DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT R 1 R 2 R 3 POW Dwelling on Cedardown Private POW Dwelling on Cedardown Private POW Dwelling on Cedardown Private 32 Yes Yes 31 Yes Yes 32 Yes Yes R 4 Calibration Receptor 28 N/A N/A R 5 R 6 R 7 R 8 R 9 R10 Unit #1 Unit #2 Unit #7 Unit #11 Unit #11 Unit #10 30 Yes Yes 33 50 45 Yes Yes 44 Yes Yes 45 Yes Yes 45 Yes Yes 41 Yes Yes Since the new noise sensitive land is within proximity to a stationary noise source, the ENCG requires that a Warning Clause Type E be placed on all Lease and Purchases and Sale Agreements as outlined below: Purchasers are advised that due to the proximity of the adjacent industry (facility) (utility), sound levels from the industry (facility) (utility) may at times be audible. Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 7
Additionally, the following restrictive covenant shall also be included in all Agreements of Lease, Purchase and Sale: The Transferee covenants with the Transferor that the above clause, verbatim, shall be included in all subsequent Agreements of Purchase and Sale and deeds conveying the lands described herein, which shall run with the said lands and is for the benefit of the subsequent owners of the said lands and the owner of the adjacent road. Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 8
6. CONCLUSIONS Our assessment of noise impacts from the lawn mowers and tractors along the proposed west service road, relating to the maintenance facility at Stonebridge Golf and Country Club, shows that they exceed the ENCG exclusionary noise level limits. To reduce noise levels at these noise sensitive locations to within the ENCG limits, all maintenance vehicles should enter/exit along a reconfigured east service road, as illustrated in Figure 2. The pathway should be a minimum of 50 meters from the proposed residential property lines. Since the new noise sensitive land is in proximity to a stationary noise source, the ENCG requires that a Warning Clause Type E be placed on all Lease and Purchase and Sale Agreements as outlined below: Purchasers are advised that due to the proximity of the adjacent industry (facility) (utility), sound levels from the industry (facility) (utility) may at times be audible. Additionally, the following restrictive covenant shall also be included in all Agreements of Lease, Purchase and Sale: The Transferee covenants with the Transferor that the above clause, verbatim, shall be included in all subsequent Agreements of Purchase and Sale and deeds conveying the lands described herein, which shall run with the said lands and is for the benefit of the subsequent owners of the said lands and the owner of the adjacent road. Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 9
FIGURE 3: PREDICTED NIGHTTIME OUTDOOR NOISE LEVELS (PROPOSED WEST SERVICE ROAD) 80 85 db 75 80 db 70 75 db 65 70 db 60 65 db 55 60 db 50 55 db 45 50 db 40 45 db 35 40 db 0 35 db Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 13
FIGURE 4: PREDICTED NIGHTTIME OUTDOOR NOISE LEVELS (RECONFIGURED EAST SERVICE ROAD) 80 85 db 75 80 db 70 75 db 65 70 db 60 65 db 55 60 db 50 55 db 45 50 db 40 45 db 35 40 db 0 35 db Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 14
PHOTOGRAPH 1: FRONT (WEST END) OF MAINTENANCE FACILITY PHOTOGRAPH 2: REAR (EAST END) OF MAINTENANCE FACILITY Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 15
PHOTOGRAPH 3: ALTERNATIVE VIEW OF SITE, LOOKING WEST PHOTOGRAPH 4: LAWN MOWERS Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 16
PHOTOGRAPH 5: VARIOUS TYPES OF MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT PHOTOGRAPH 6: BLADE SHARPENING MACHINE #1 Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 17
PHOTOGRAPH 7: BLADE SHARPENING MACHINE #2 Stonebridge Golf & Country Club, Ottawa, ON Stationary Noise Assessment Page 18