Energy Inventory

An energy inventory captures a snapshot of a period of time in your municipalitys overall

energy use. The energy inventory may provide enough insight to implement some basic
efficiency measures). The inventory also helps identify broad-based areas of inefficiency that a
local energy committee (LE) can focus on! and creates a baseline of energy use against "hich
the impacts of energy pro#ects can be measured.
$nventories often have immediate and unintended positive conse%uences. $n many "ays! the
process of conducting an energy inventory is an educational process. A municipality can learn
ho" to trac& energy use! and begin the habit of collecting and trac&ing energy bills in one
location. The inventory can illustrate to "hat organi'ation money is paid! "hat type of energy is
being used! and other"ise identify the cost effective ne(t step.
)*$+E ,-).A/E)TAL+
)oise pollution in an urban area comes from many sources. +ome sources are activities essential
to the health! safety! and "elfare of a citys inhabitants! such as noise from emergency vehicle
sirens! garbage collection operations! and construction and maintenance e%uipment. *ther
sources! such as traffic! are essential to the viability of a city as a place to live and do business.
Although these and other noise producing activities are necessary to a city! the noise they
produce is undesirable. -rban noise detracts from the %uality of the living environment! and
there is increasing evidence that e(cessive noise represents a threat to public health. 0uantitative
information on the effects of airborne noise on people is "ell-documented. $f sufficiently loud!
noise may interfere "ith human activities such as sleep! speech
communication! and tas&s re%uiring concentration or coordination. $t may also cause annoyance!
hearing damage! and other physiological problems. +everal noise scales and rating methods are
used to %uantify the effects of noise on people! ta&ing into consideration such factors as
loudness! duration! time of occurrence! and changes in noise level "ith time. 1o"ever! it must
be noted that all the stated effects of noise on people vary greatly "ith each individual.
)oise is generally measured using A-"eighted decibels (d2A)! "hich are ad#usted to include
only fre%uencies that humans can hear! as summari'ed in the follo"ing bo(.
)oise is measured in decibels (d2)! a logarithmic scale. A 34 d2 increase represents a doubling
in noise level. Decibels A-weighted! (indicated 5d2(A)6) units emphasi'e the fre%uency
sensitivities of human hearing! and correlate "ell "ith sub#ective impressions of loudness.
ommon noise levels range from 74 to 84 d2(A). .ecibels are an instantaneous measurement! so
various inde(es are used to measure noise over a period of time9
: Leq represents the e%uivalent continuous sound level in d2(A) for a specific time
period. Le% (; hours) is used in many traffic noise standards established by *E. and
<1*.
: L
10
represents the d2(A) level that is e(ceeded 34= of a time period (often one hour).
Analogous measurements! L
43
L
4>
! L
>4
! refer to noise levels e(ceeded 3=! >= and >4= of the
time period. L
34
(18 hours) is the mean of the hourly values ta&en over an 3;-hour period!
typically from ? a.m. to midnight. L
34
is often used to define traffic noise.
: MNL (Maximum Noise Level) is the loudest noise during a certain period. +ome
researches consider this inde( to correlate "ith noise annoyance better than Le% and L
34
! but
does not address the number of noise events! and is not "idely used.
Estimating transportation noise impact
/any pro#ects! such as a ne" street! "ill increase noise for nearby residents and businesses.
*ther pro#ects may shift noise from one area to another@ for e(ample! a traffic diversion pro#ect
"ould reduce noise on streets from "hich traffic "as diverted and increase noise on other streets.
+tate and federal agencies have computeri'ed models that can estimate ho" much a pro#ect "ill
change noise levels in an area. /ulti-modal transportation pro#ects often re%uire a different
model for each mode.
The ,ederal 1igh"ay Administration (,1<A) model! called the Traffic )oise /odelA (T)/)!
assesses the noise impact of different types of vehicles! different pavement types! graded
road"ays! and other variables. +ome state transportation agencies use T)/ for their o"n
pro#ects.