[MassHistPres] Noise abatement question

[Jean Carroon]

Hi all,
I am posting this message from my husband, Michael Payne, who is a former chair of the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission and whose 30 year career has been about noise abatement. As I forwarded the many comments on the listserv, he responded as follows:


  *   A useful reference for answering this question is the Vermont study that described the energy benefits of repairing existing single glazed windows and adding a storm versus replacing them.  Whatever one does to improve thermal performance generally improves acoustic performance.  Unfortunately there has never been a comprehensive study that demonstrates this linkage but the principle is widely accepted by most FAA-funded noise insulation programs where historic buildings are being sound insulated and it is necessary to minimize adverse impacts on properties subject to Section 106 requirements.  You may want to pass on the Vermont study with its recommendations for repairing and "tightening up" existing windows.


  *   Regarding Harvey's True-Channel Triple Track (high performance) storm windows, the dies,  production infrastructure and (presumably) licensing was sold by Harvey to Stergis Aluminum of Attleboro, MA.  I called them in May, 2021 and confirmed that they had purchased and were manufacturing the triple-track.  They however don't sell to contractors but to home improvement supply businesses like JB Sash.  I suggest interested parties call Jim Carney at JB Sash to confirm that they can provide and if they can do a direct sale to the public versus contractors..


  *   PS: Larson provides several grades of storm windows.  I don't believe that their best-performing line of storms ((i.e., lowest air infiltration rate) is the one that is sold at Lowes. Someone would need to contact Larson to confirm this.

I hope this is helpful. The Harvey True-Channel we installed on our 2-family in Somerville 30 years ago are still doing their job in terms of air (and noise) infiltration or lack thereof.  Best money we ever spent.

Jean Carroon, FAIA, LEED Fellow
Principal - Design, Preservation and Sustainability
Goody Clancy
617 850 6651 (direct) 617 285 5936 (mobile)
Jean.carroon at goodyclancy.com

[Goody Clancy]
Building reuse is climate action! - Lori Ferriss

From: MassHistPres <masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu> On Behalf Of heartwood
Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2021 8:45 AM
To: Wendy Bawabe <bawabe at gmail.com>; masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Noise abatement question

good morning....
for any home owner living in an old house with original windows, storm windows are advised for
increased energy efficiency and noise reduction...I advise exterior storms as they protect the
primary window and prolong the life of the paint and putty....

I myself have not used them but have heard good things about Larson storms...they are available
at lowe's (downside) and come in a number of quality grades...
https://www.lowes.com/pl/Storm-windows-Windows-Windows-doors/4294858055<https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lowes.com%2Fpl%2FStorm-windows-Windows-Windows-doors%2F4294858055&data=04%7C01%7Cjean.carroon%40goodyclancy.com%7Ca1abcef8dd8f4d263d3708d93bcc8b6f%7C4d488c0508d74c388772b190b5b49f3c%7C0%7C0%7C637606572846309707%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=nEhndCFm1hE3l7ix%2B0rJYo5vKy7egmv33Smts34ZN0c%3D&reserved=0>

top quality aluminum storms:
https://www.alliedwindow.com/<https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.alliedwindow.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cjean.carroon%40goodyclancy.com%7Ca1abcef8dd8f4d263d3708d93bcc8b6f%7C4d488c0508d74c388772b190b5b49f3c%7C0%7C0%7C637606572846319665%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=1n3OlWVUFKxVnPdnwv8a7UGOaYrbjUMwJXlxWlNoPPk%3D&reserved=0>
https://www.monray.com/mon-ray-storm-windows/<https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.monray.com%2Fmon-ray-storm-windows%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cjean.carroon%40goodyclancy.com%7Ca1abcef8dd8f4d263d3708d93bcc8b6f%7C4d488c0508d74c388772b190b5b49f3c%7C0%7C0%7C637606572846319665%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=P2tSnfFpK3l6rJ8avlnSKgxoi9qJroxUvfCNrQtwrTg%3D&reserved=0>

high quality local storms:
http://www.jpmoriarty.com/<https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpmoriarty.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cjean.carroon%40goodyclancy.com%7Ca1abcef8dd8f4d263d3708d93bcc8b6f%7C4d488c0508d74c388772b190b5b49f3c%7C0%7C0%7C637606572846319665%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=LZRicvfSbln%2BNn5VMxZky9g2AR2%2BLjv%2BdmEGaSZWpRg%3D&reserved=0>   today's wood storms look similar to those from 100 years ago (handsome)....the
upside is that there are glass and screen inserts that are removed from the interior while the frame
remains in place...

interior storms:
https://stormwindows.com/index.php/storm-windows-why-innerglass-window-systems/<https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstormwindows.com%2Findex.php%2Fstorm-windows-why-innerglass-window-systems%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cjean.carroon%40goodyclancy.com%7Ca1abcef8dd8f4d263d3708d93bcc8b6f%7C4d488c0508d74c388772b190b5b49f3c%7C0%7C0%7C637606572846329624%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=anVHANwQtsQ6ofJMfICVA38E0LDTLeSQL0ornEbcu5M%3D&reserved=0>

hope that helps!
........jade

jade mortimer
heartwood window restoration
po box 114 1605 mohawk trail
charlemont, ma 01339
413-625-8680

From: Wendy Bawabe<mailto:bawabe at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2021 12:57 PM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu<mailto:MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu>
Subject: [MassHistPres] Noise abatement question

Dear List,

Does anyone have any idea what historic homeowners have done to help reduce road noise in their homes?  I've had the question from a historic homeowner and they've said they plan to replace their windows first-I haven't replied yet, but I will obviously discourage this!!  When I reply, I'd like to offer other suggestions.  Storms? (I know there was a thread about storm windows recently and the company that used to make the preferred ones is no longer in business...).  Insulation?  Please let me know if anyone has any suggestions or recommendations.

Wendy Bawabe
Norwell Historical Society
________________________________
_______________________________________________
MassHistPres mailing list
MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu<mailto:MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu>
https://mailman.cs.umb.edu/listinfo/masshistpres
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/pipermail/masshistpres/attachments/20210630/da39b1bf/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 28741 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/pipermail/masshistpres/attachments/20210630/da39b1bf/attachment-0001.jpg>