Sound insulation between dwellings in multi-storey housing in Greenland - Need and feasibility of increased requirements?

Greenland is the world’s largest island, area 2,2 million km2, but has a population of less than 60.000 inhabitants. There are 22.000 dwellings, of these 9.500 in multi-storey housing. Due to many complaints about neighbour noise, the Government of Greenland initiated an investigation with two goals, one of them being check of fulfilment of the current regulatory sound insulation requirements, the other one being an evaluation of the possibilities to strengthen the requirements in the next building regulations.
Sound insulation measurements between dwellings were made in three newly constructed housing estates, 4-8 storeys. Main constructions are in-situ cast concrete. Unexpectedly, the results showed fulfilment of requirements, in most cases with a high margin. It was concluded that strengthening of requirements could be made without big changes in building practice or enforcement. The reasons for complaints were not investigated, but one of the hypotheses is that due to very quiet surroundings, neighbours are heard better and thus perceived more disturbing than in typical European cities.
Due to reflections on how much requirements could be tightened and implications, calculations according to EN12354 are relevant. The paper presents measurement results and comparison with calculations for selected constructions. Furthermore, strengthening options will be discussed.