INDUSTRIAL NOISE
4.2.1 DIN 18005-1: Noise abatement in town planning

Pursuant to TA Lärm (Technical Instructions on Noise), the rating level within the sphere of influence of commercial installations shall be calculated in combination with DIN ISO 9613-2. When drawing up legally binding land-use plans for industrial and commercial areas, those responsible must also take care that the immission guide values must not be fully exhausted by installations covering only parts of the area as this would limit the intended use of the other parts of the area.

When commercial/industrial areas are planned, however, future installations which could possibly emit noise, are generally not known yet. In this case, DIN 18005-1 provides sufficient assistance to city planners. If the indications laid down in this norm are taken into account, there usually should not be any noise-related conflict between the projected commerce and any residential development requiring protection.

If the nature of the projected installation is not known, an area sound source with the following area-related sound power levels must be set for the calculation of the rating levels expected in the surrounding region of a planned industrial or commercial area without emission limitation: 65 dB(A)/m² in industrial areas for day and night, 60 dB(A)/ m² in commercial areas for day and night. 

This norm also contains a clearance table (table 4/1), which lists the approximate clearances required for adhering different rating levels in the case of undisturbed sound propagation.

If the clearances from areas requiring protection as listed in the norm cannot be maintained for a planned industrial or commercial area, the Federal Land Utilization Ordinance (§ 1 para. 4 sentence 1 no. 2) regulates that the area must be subdivided in sectors whose permitted immission-effective emissions are limited by the setting of noise allotments (DIN 45691). A noise allotment also prevents that single firms use the complete immission guide values for themselves, which would mean that the remaining unbuilt commercial sites thereby become worthless as no sound-emitting installations may be operated there. Noise allotment is a highly efficient and, if used correctly, a very just procedure to fully exploit the "noise potential" of a commercial area. The designation of new areas requiring protection without sufficient clearance from existing commercial installations, industrial or commercial areas may lead to a restriction of the commercial use.

Calculations lead to the determination of rating levels, which shall be compared with the "Acoustic orientation values" in Supplement 1 to DIN 18005-1 as indicated in section 2.6. The orientation values are to be applied in town planning, especially for the planning of development areas with uses requiring protection and for the replanning of areas with sound emissions, which can have an influence on existing or planned uses requiring protection. The supplement also indicates that it may be necessary in particular cases to stay below or exceed the orientation values due to local conditions. Pursuant to § 1 para. 6 of the Federal Building Code, orientation values shall principally be duly weighed.

However, Supplement 1 to DIN 18005 cannot remove pollution control rights. As for industrial, commercial, sports and leisure noise, the relevant regulations including their immission guide values must be taken into account also in the planning (see section 2.1). This is especially true for core areas requiring protection. The orientation values laid down in Supplement 1 to DIN 18005-1 are by 5 dB higher than the immission guide value of other regulations.