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A standard defining a common acoustic classification scheme for dwellings is under development by ISO TC42/SC2/WG29 based on the outcomes of European project COST Action TU0901. The proposal stands on the assumption that in the long term many countries will establish building acoustic requirements using a harmonized set of descriptors. In this scenario most countries will need to estimate the influence on their current airborne sound insulation requirements due to the new descriptor. This paper investigates a statistical method to obtain translation equations between existing and proposed descriptors, based on the analysis of a significant set of in-situ measurements. Several translation equations are proposed, and the effect of the building system such as heavy and light weight walls. Results show that, although it is possible to propose a single translation equation for each existent descriptor, in some cases the spread around the proposed translation line is significant. Overall, the effect of building system is more noticeable if different frequency range descriptors are involved in the translation. For some existent descriptors, the obtained translation is compared with the theoretical method proposed within the findings of COST TU0901. When considering only lightweight walls or the full data set, there is no good agr eement between both methods, but for heavyweight walls they converge. Existing requirements in most European countries have been translated into the proposed descriptor DnT,50 ≈ DnT,w + C50-3150 using the obtained equations. This provides valuable information and an insight for government and building regulation policy makers when updating their legislation.

In Peru, as in many countries worldwide, varying degrees of restrictions have been established on the movement of the population after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the condition of pandemic by COVID-19. In Lima, there have been different degrees of compulsory social immobilization (CSI), and the resumption of activities was planned in three consecutive phases. To analyse and evaluate the influence of such restrictions on the evolution of environmental noise, an investigation was carried out in one of the main avenues in the city of Lima during various successive mobility restriction conditions. The sound pressure level was measured, and the traffic flow was also registered. Considering that in Peru there is no environmental noise monitoring system whatsoever, in situ data are extremely valuable and allow the environmental noise problem to be depicted, even if in a limited area of the big city. The results show that in spite of the strongly restrictive social immobilization conditions, the measured noise levels have remained above the WHO recommendations and often above the Peruvian environmental noise quality standards. The results highlight the need to properly assess the environmental noise and noise sources in the city of Lima as well as the number of people exposed in order to adequately implement effective and cost-efficient noise mitigation action plans.