Tighten your ‘thermal envelope’

Question: I’m not sure if this has anything to do with energy, but we’re running out of people to help us. When we bought this house last summer, we had no idea how noisy this neighborhood was, with barking dogs in several nearby houses and a street out front that we thought was quiet but sounds every night like a training ground for the Indianapolis 500. Are there things we can do to our house to keep it quieter inside that may also make it more comfortable for us and, hopefully, even save some money on our energy bills?

Answer: Yes. There are a lot of things about homes that can be fixed, improved or radically changed by making energy-efficiency improvements. These fix-ups can indeed make a home’s interior quieter by keeping out a lot of the unwanted outdoor noise, and at the same time improve indoor comfort and eliminate lots of energy-wasters.

Start with a basic efficiency strategy of tightening up the home’s “thermal envelope.” This term refers to the complete structural elements that protect the home from the outdoors, including the walls, foundation and attic, as well as the individual components that make up the envelope (like the roof shingles, insulation, etc.).

Tightening it up means you seal any cracks or holes to the outside, make sure the doors and windows close tightly, check to be sure you have adequate insulation levels for your climate in the walls and ceiling, and otherwise look for building features and strategies that can stop the unwanted flow of air inside and out. It’s obvious that doing these things will also stop the unwanted flow of noise, insects, outdoor pollutants and lots of other things outside your home that you’d like to keep there.

Then there’s another key energy-efficiency strategy to consider — landscape around the house. A row of trees and bushes can help channel summer breezes to your windows while also blocking strong winter winds. And since leaves, twigs and branches are great at absorbing annoying high-frequency sounds, they’ll also help cut down on some noise before it gets indoors. Trees have sometimes been called “green air conditioners” since they’re often used by city planners top help reduce daytime temperatures and help channel nighttime air around the home.

I saw some research a while ago that said that a belt of trees 98 feet wide and 49 feet tall would reduce highway noise by as much as 50 percent. You probably don’t have enough room around your home to plant a forest like this, but the principle is still the same, and whatever you can add not only improves the home’s look and value but also will help keep noise from getting indoors.

Think of the other things you might do to save energy and you’ll realize many of them would help block noise as well. Closing the drapes and blinds tightly helps seal the house better. Having good double-pane (or better) windows rather than single-panes is another strategy that will help. Just give some thought to ways to better protect your home’s interior from the elements, and you’ll realize that noise is exactly one of those elements you will be reducing.